Health Benefits of Vegetables

The health benefits of vegetables are innumerable. That’s a great reason to eat your veggies. Apart from that, vegetables add a lot of taste and variety to your meals.

A plant-based diet is rich in nutrients and fiber, and low in calories, sodium, fat, and cholesterol, and has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) as well as the WHO (World Health Organization) recommend we eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits. The USDA food pyramid recommends 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day for a 2000 calorie diet. It’s important to include multi-colored vegetables in your vegetarian diets as variety is key to getting all the nutrients for maintaining good health.

If you’re just switching over to a vegetarian lifestyle, eat more beans and legumes to get your protein and fiber content. Eating seasonal and locally grown vegetables helps ensure your foods are fresher and tastier, with more nutrients, as well as cheaper.

Studies show that cooking your own vegetarian meals also helps you eat healthier and lose weight, apart from the fact that you cut down on your restaurant bills. A vegetarian diet coupled with exercise or increased physical activity, whether it’s yoga, masala bhangra workout or anything else, can help you lose weight and get healthier.

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Vegetable Nutrition

Quick Facts

• Vegetables provide nutrients such as iron, potassium, and magnesium, folic acid, and fiber along with vitamins such as Vitamins A, C, E. These vitamins act as antioxidants which play an important role in slowing the health issues associated with aging.
• Potassium-rich vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, spinach, lentils, and split peas help maintain a healthy blood pressure.
• Vegetables are an important source of fiber which reduces blood cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. Fiber provides many health benefits. It helps maintain the health of your digestive tract and prevents constipation.
• Other health benefits of vegetables rich in fiber such as beans, peas, greens etc. are that they help you feel full with smaller portions, reducing the calories you consume. As such, these vegetables should be part of any weight-loss plan.
• Orange colored vegetables such as sweet potatoes, and carrots, pumpkins are rich in Vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for your vision and skin. Tomatoes and dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, fenugreek, collard greens also provide Vitamin A.
• Vegetables such as bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and other greens are rich in calcium that is so essential for healthy bones and teeth.
• Vegetables such as avocado, spinach, turnip greens, provide Vitamin E which prevents cell damage. (Source: USDA)

Cooking Tips

• Wash vegetables to remove any dirt. It is better to wash the veggies before peeling or cutting them, rather than after, in order to prevent the water-soluble vitamins from being washed away.
• Cook vegetables with the peel as much as possible; or peel as thinly as possible because many of the vitamins and minerals are present just under the peel. For vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets, it’s best to cook with the peel to get the maximum nutrients from them.
• Do not soak vegetables in water as soaking can wash away the nutrients.
• When boiling vegetables, use just enough liquid, or add water as needed so you don’t have to throw away the excess water — along with all the nutrients. If there’s any excess water, use it as stock for making gravy and soups, or for mixing dough for roti.
• Do not overcook the vegetables as overcooking would destroy the nutrients.
• Use fresh vegetables, and organically grown, if possible. If using cut vegetables, use frozen ones rather than canned ones. In canned vegetables a lot of salt is added as a preservative.

Source: USDA

For more on health benefits of vegetables, check out the related pages.

Category: Health