It is important to eat a healthy diet for many different reasons – more energy, prevent colds and infections, help lose weight, and prevent chronic disease. A balanced diet includes the major healthy food groups. One essential food group is fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins and nutrients for a healthy balanced diet that improves your wellbeing. Specifically, here are the reasons why fruits and vegetables should be on your plate on a regular basis.
- Cardiovascular benefits
Fruit and vegetables contain many different nutrients that help to help protect your heart and your cardiovascular system. The more fruits and vegetables you eat on a regular basis, the lower your chances of suffering from heart attack or stroke. Nutrients in fruits and vegetables help lower blood pressure and a diet high in these foods helps you lose weight – maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for avoiding cardiovascular disease. Green, leafy vegetables are good for the heart, as are cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower.
- Anti-cancer benefits
It’s not only cardiovascular disease that fruits and vegetables help you avoid. Cancer can be prevented, according to many experts, by adding enough fruits and vegetables to your daily diet. The risk of certain forms of cancer like mouth cancer, lung cancer, throat cancer and stomach cancer may be lowered when you eat fruits and vegetables.
- Benefits for your digestion
It is important to have a healthy digestive system, not just to avoid constipation and other common bowel issues, but to help prevent serious diseases and avoid intestinal blockages. Fiber in fruit and vegetables is important, and for this reason it is best to eat fruits and vegetables whole rather than in juice form as this way you preserve the fiber and roughage.
- Weight loss benefits
If you are trying to lose weight then adding a heap of fruits and vegetables to your plate will help you shed the pounds. These foods fill you up without adding fat, calories, salt, and cholesterol – when you feel full you are less likely to overeat and more likely to eat a balanced diet. Eat a variety of different fruits and vegetables every day to get the optimum health and nutrition benefits – plus, when you enjoy a variety of fruits and veggies you are less likely to get bored.