People who want to live long healthy lives have come to appreciate the power of green foods as a nutrition enhancer which helps us get closer to nature.
Green is the color of most superfoods whether they come from the soil or water. These are the foods that we get from plant vegetation, sea vegetables and algae from fresh water.
Green superfoods get their pigment from a life-giving nutrient called chlorophyll. It is the main component in the plant’s ability to process and convert sunlight into chemical energy.
Foods that are rich in chlorophyll play a major role in maintaining our body’s health. Cholophyll helps in the formation of new blood cells, fight degenerative diseases like cancer. It also aids in the body’s detoxification and deodorization process.
Chlorophyll has been considered by biological scientists as the “green blood” for its close resemblance to hemoglobin, the molecule in the red blood cells that contains oxygen and iron. The only difference between chlorophyll and hemoglobin is their binding mineral. Hemoglobin is built around iron while chlorophyll is built around magnesium.
But your body also needs magnesium because it helps to make your brain, muscles and nervous system function normally. Magnesium deficiency has become common today because many people are avoiding green foods and they adapt to diets rich in sugar instead.
Green foods play a big role in the body’s manufacture of red blood cells. A 1936 study led by Dr. Arthur Patek found that diets composed of a combination of green foods and iron rich foods boosts hemoglobin as well as it increases red blood cell count in patients suffering from iron deficiency anemia. The study also stated that this type of diet fought IDA more effectively than taking iron supplements alone.
Aside from their health-giving chlorophyll content, green foods are also rich in essential fatty acids, amino acids and trace minerals. All these are vital in giving you a vigorous body and a sound mind.
Isothiocyanates & sulfuraphane are two of the world’s best known cancer fighters. You can obtain these nutrients from cruciferous vegetables such as kale, mustard greens, collard greens and broccoli.
Spinach is another green vegetable which is rich in chlorophyll and magnesium. It is also an effective anti-oxidant because it is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin. Spinach is also a great bad breath buster because of its richness in chlorophyll.
In order to get the best from green vegetables, here are some tips on how to include them in your diet:
1. Use them in salads; 2. Juice them as often as possible; 3. SuperGreen supplements are available in powder or capsule form. Use them to boost your health and nutrition.
