The Importance Of Eating Green Leafy Vegetables (Greens)

Dark green leafy vegetables are perhaps the most potent superfood on the planet. They are also the most ignored and avoided foods as well. If you consider the powerful dose of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients that we get from spinach, kale, chard, collards, dandelion and other greens, it’s a wonder we can live without them.

Leafy Green Nutrition

Leafy green vegetables have more nutrition per calorie than any other food. Greens make up a significant source vitamins A, C, E and K as well as several B vitamins. They are rich sources of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium. They are rich in fiber, extremely low in fat and carbohydrates and provide an excellent source of protein.

How Much Green Should You Eat?

The USDA food pyramid suggests a minimum of 3 servings of leafy greens per week. Most Americans fall short of this recommendation. Most health experts agree that the amount of leafy greens that we should consume is likely much higher than just 3 servings per week! I eat about 5-8 servings per day (that’s about two bunches or “heads”), mostly in green smoothies.

Drink Your Green Smoothies

Nobody likes to eat a big bowl of leafy greens. I eat a lot of greens each day, but I rarely eat salad. I get my greens from delicious fruit smoothies. I drink my spinach, kale, chard and dandelion greens while savoring the flavors of pineapple, mango, pear and even chocolate! That’s right, I eat about a pound of greens per day and all I taste is fruit and chocolate!

You can use just about any green leafy vegetable in a green smoothie. The most popular are:

- Spinach (preferably baby spinach)
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Collard greens
- Dandelion greens
- Turnip greens
- Beat greens
- Parsley
- Arugula
- Romaine lettuce
- Green and red leaf lettuce

Read more about these leafy green superfoods.

Return to Health and Nutrition Topics.

Tags: beat greens, chard, collard greens, greens, kale, leafy greens, Nutrition, parsley, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens