I know you are groaning right now! But the older you get, the more you need to start cleaning up our choices in food and nutrition. Our bodies have ways of telling us we need to make some food changes. Unfortunately, sometimes that is through illness and disease.
But we can make some easy changes in food choices that can help. Vegetables play a vital role in proper nutrition. Along with a diet rich in whole grains and fruits, veggies can deliver all of the essential vitamins, nutrients and minerals you need for excellent health. Unfortunately, today’s Standard American Diet (its acronym is ‘SAD’ for a reason) is lacking in healthy vegetables.
There wouldn’t be a problem if processed and fast foods delivered nutrition. We wish! However, they are lacking in most of the natural components and compounds your body needs to function properly. If any of the following signs sound familiar to you, you probably aren’t eating enough vegetables on a day-to-day basis.
7 Signs That You Need More Vegetables in Your Diet
1 – You have been diagnosed with heart problems
This could be due to family history and heredity. However, if your doctor tells you heart disease, stroke or heart attacks are on your horizon and there is no family history of these events, you need to begin eating more vegetables.
2 – You have problems regulating a healthy body weight
If you are eating more processed foods than vegetables, you could be underweight, overweight or obese. Those conditions lead to more serious health problems, and can often be alleviated by eating more vegetables.
3 – You experience regular digestive issues
Vegetables are high in fiber. Because of this, they help to regulate your digestive system. Chronic bloating, upset stomach, gas, hemorrhoids, constipation and pains in your midsection can all be corrected with a healthy and steady dose of vegetables.
4 – You are tired all the time
If your body does not get the wonderfully healthy phytonutrients, minerals and vitamins vegetables provide, your sleep cycle can be thrown off. This means you have a problem sleeping at night, and staying awake during the day.
5 – You are sick frequently
A healthy immune system, your body’s natural defense system against infection and sickness, depends on a steady diet of the nutrients found in vegetables.
6 – Your skin, hair and teeth are unhealthy
A vegetable-rich diet leads to overall body health. Outward signs of a diet devoid of enough vegetables can include dry and damaged skin and hair, hair loss, scurvy and a multitude of dental problems.
7 – You are frequently stressed out, anxious or depressed
Hormones regulate your moods and emotions. These hormones start acting up when you don’t eat right. A diet rich in vegetables gives your body all of the hormone-healthy nutrition it needs to help you handle stressful and high-anxiety situations correctly.
How can you add more vegetables in your diet easily? Juicing is how I did it. Salads. More veggies as sides instead of carbs. Just being more conscious of what you are eating.
Remember, everyday is a work in progress! We don’t have to be perfect!
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Hi! I’m Chris! Just a Midlife Wife sharing about life’s journey; screaming and kicking through it while supposedly aging gracefully…
Focusing on healthy living, low carb & keto, things I am loving right now, and life in general.