1. Anemia and Leafy Vegetables
Anemia is not having enough iron in the blood. Iron is important since it carries oxygen through the blood to organs, helps produce red blood cells and helps in general health. Leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, quinoa and other dark green leafy vegetables help increase iron in the diet and in the blood. However, spinach contains non-heme (non-absorbable) iron. So with your leafy vegetables, you need to eat heme iron sources such as lean protein and foods high in vitamin C. Eating heme sources of iron increases the absorption of non-heme iron sources.
2. Eat a Salad Every Day
One of the best ways to increase leafy vegetable intake is to add a small salad to a meal. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something that contains green leafy vegetables such as spinach. You also may lose weight since you're eating less of the heavier entrees and filling your stomach with salad. Use your imagination and throw anything that sounds good into your salad for variation, including fruits. Try different salad dressings, salsa, lemon juice and red wine vinegar to vary your salad toppings.
3. Make it Easier to Add Green Leafy Vegetables
Sneak spinach into favorites such as lasagna, pizza, casseroles and hamburgers. Purchase prewashed and pre-chopped leafy vegetables to make preparation easier so you're more likely to eat it. Remember that variation is the spice of life; if you can't stand another bit of leafy vegetables in a salad, think of a new way to prepare or cook them.
4. Watch What You Eat With Your Leafy Vegetables
When eating items high in iron, you need to change what you eat since other foods can interfere with iron absorption. Coffee and teas are big culprits of this. So are foods high in calcium such as milk. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have foods high in calcium or should eliminate coffee and teas from your diet. It simply means you shouldn't eat your green leafy vegetables with high calcium foods or coffee and teas. However, fruits high in vitamin C such as orange juice and strawberries can help with iron absorption, so feel free to mix oranges and strawberries into your salads.
