Happy St. Patrick’s Day: Eat Green for Your Health

In addition to the festivities surrounding St. Patrick's Day, consider adding a new tradition: add more GREEN foods to your diet!

The following are healthy and delicious tips to increase your health by ‘eating green’:

 

Increase fiber with broccoli. Broccoli provides many health benefits, including both soluble and insoluble fiber; vitamins A, C and E (important antioxidants for staving off cellular damage from free-radicals); vitamin K for bone health; and a special antioxidant called sulforaphane, known for its powerful anticancer properties.

Vary your leafy greens. It’s important to remember that leafy green vegetables, such as lettuces, come in varying shades of green.  Research suggest the lighter the green the less vitamins and minerals. This could be due to excess water content, etc.  The darker the green = the higher the concentration of vitamins and minerals such as A, C and folate. Spinach contains lutein which is good for eye health.

Choose vitamin K for increased bone health. While vitamin K isn't a substitute for calcium, eating green vegetables high in vitamin K is beneficial for bone health.  Choose vegetables like asparagus, green/herbal teas, spinach, kale, turnip, collard and mustard greens, broccoli, cabbage, endive and brussel sprouts.

Improve cholesterol levels with avocado.  Avocado is a good source of monounsaturated fats (the healthy fats), which can help lower your cholesterol. It's also a great source of vitamin E.

Alternate oranges with kiwifruit. If you're always grabbing an orange to ensure you're getting your daily dose of vitamin C, consider eating a kiwifruit instead.  Kiwi is said to contain more vitamin C than oranges, while also providing you with dietary fiber.

Snack on green apples. While green apples relatively the same health benefits as red or yellow apples, green apples are a great source of soluble and insoluble fiber which aid in digestion and improve heart health.

Drink green tea. If you like to drink tea, consider choosing green tea instead of black, oolong or other darker teas. Green tea next to white tea packs the biggest punch when it comes to antioxidants. It also contains flavonoids, a class of naturally occurring plant compounds that function as antioxidants that are good for the heart.

Source: http://www.med.umich.edu/