The Role of Vegetables in our Diet

Benefits, properties, consumption recommendations, and some false myths

You have probably spent half of your childhood battling with your mother because, every time there were vegetables to eat, the table became a battlefield in the face of your continued refusal to enjoy this product that, over time, you have learned to love.

And is that your mother insisted that you eat vegetables because they are an essential food in any diet if you want to enjoy a healthy diet. In this article, you will find the arguments that your mother may not have been able to give you clearly, but that are the reason why vegetables are essential in a healthy diet.

Read: Tips for Living a Healthy Life.

Benefits of vegetables for a healthy diet and lifestyle

Vegetables and vegetables are the basis of a healthy diet, as they are the main source of vitamins, fiber, and minerals, which are essential substances for the proper functioning of our body.

In addition, along with fruits, they are the foods that provide the most water to our body and, at the same time, their high potassium content facilitates the elimination of fluids.

Likewise, vegetables are high in antioxidants, which protect us against some cardiovascular diseases and others that affect the nervous system. Vegetables of this type are broccoli, tomato, garlic, carrot, and artichokes.

On the other hand, vegetables and fruits are practically the only natural source of vitamin C, strengthening our body's defenses. Yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, green cabbage, chili, and dried tomatoes are the vegetables with the most vitamin C content.

Its zero fat content makes this local product an optimal element to improve vascular health. In this sense, it should be noted that there are studies that show that eating 800 grams of vegetables and fruits daily reduces the risk of premature death by 31%.

As for the practical part, vegetables are an ingredient that can accompany any dish, but they can also be a delicious dish in themselves, cooked in endless ways to achieve the best flavors: roasted, in cream, in tempura, grilled or raw with a good dressing.

Another positive point to consume vegetables and vegetables is that we can find them throughout the year, although not all at the same time due to seasonality. The most advisable thing is to consume the products, whether fruits or vegetables, that are in season to ensure greater freshness and, even, a better price.

The properties of color

The color of vegetables, which is derived from phytonutrients, is key to knowing, without being an expert in botany, each one's properties.

Thus, orange-colored vegetables, such as pumpkin or carrot, contribute to the human body's proper functioning and eyesight strengthening. They have cleansing properties, stop skin diseases or fight allergies. Similarly, they raise the levels of the defenses in the body, help produce repair enzymes, and help protect against cancer.

Besides being of high-quality antioxidants, the plant reddish improves blood circulation, reduces cholesterol, prevents harmful clots, and fights substances with more toxicity.

For their part, yellow vegetables contribute to cleaning the blood and intestines, are depurative, promote white blood cells' production, and make our blood vessels stronger. They also have a high proportion of antioxidants that help fight cancer and are very suitable for stopping infections and healing wounds.

The green vegetables, to having high doses of chlorophyll, contribute in the fight against all kinds of diseases, besides being excellent tonics, fight allergies, prevent aging, and strengthen the immune system.

White vegetables help fight infections, act as powerful antioxidants, facilitate protective enzymes' production, strengthen our body's defenses, fight infections, and problems related to circulation and the skin. Likewise, they facilitate white blood cells' production, increase protection against cancer, have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal power, and prevent aging.

Lastly, purple and bluish vegetables help to balance blood pressure and protect the oxidation of hormones, enzymes, and vitamins. In addition, they stimulate the production of white blood cells, facilitate repair enzymes' actions, and help prevent cancer.

Consumption recommendations

The World Health Organization argues that a daily consumption of fruits and vegetables (three of fruit and two of vegetables) would help prevent important diseases, especially some cancers and those of a cardiovascular type. He also calculates that if these products' consumption were increased as necessary, 1.7 million lives could be saved.

Taking into account these data, this organization recommends taking five fresh pieces of fruit and vegetables a day, more specifically, it promotes the consumption of about four hundred grams of fruits and vegetables daily, excluding potatoes.