You can think about diet in two ways. In one respect, a diet is a temporary strategy you use to reduce calories and lose weight. In another respect, a diet is simply the food that you eat. In this second sense, a diet is not temporary. It refers to the foods that you consume in general to obtain nutrition and sustain your health and well being. When you think about eating green, embrace this second definition of diet.
Go Green
Green vegetables are potent sources of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and other micronutrients. They are filled with fiber that fills you up, cleanses your gut and prolongs the release of carbohydrates into your blood stream, stabilizing your blood sugar and sating your appetite. Green vegetables do all of this at a low caloric cost.
Chlorophyll Your Plate
Feel free to fill your plate with as many green vegetables as you want. Chlorophyll, the substance in plants that make them green, enhances the flow of oxygen to cells and aids in the release of carbon dioxide and other toxins. It is filled with powerful antioxidants and may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, reports the Linus Pauling Institute. Green vegetables are loaded with nutrients that provide health benefits. Green vegetables reduce bad cholesterol, improve vision and retinal health, decrease blood pressure and reduce the destructive effects of free radicals. These are rogue molecules that maraud through your circulatory system absconding with oxygen and damaging cells.
Prep Your Palate
Eat a green salad before you head into your main course. The fiber-rich salad fills you up with ultra low-calorie greens and creates the experience of extended chewing and swallowing, sating your hidden psychological need to be a glutton. Salad greens, such as spinach, romaine, cabbage, chard, endive, watercress and iceberg deliver vitamins A, C, E and K and vitamins B including riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamin and pyridoxine. Toss in other raw green veggies, such as cucumber, celery, green pepper, green onion and broccoli. All of these veggies are ridiculously low in calories. Two cups of iron-filled spinach keeps you strong to the finish for a mere 14 calories, and a ½ cup each of celery, cucumber, broccoli and green pepper brings the grand total up to a miserly 52 calories for four cups of food. Garnish with other veggies and trimmings to diversify your nutrients, texture, color and flavor.
Make Yours a Veggie Table
Don't skimp on the veggies just because you've had a salad. You should pre-measure your meats and deserts, but feel free to bring your veggie serving dishes table-side. Exorcise portion control, and load up on cooking and other greens, such as broccoli, zucchini, beans, peas, peppers, Brussels sprouts and asparagus. Fill yourself with these vitamin-rich morsels rather than starchy carbs and fatty meats. If you're feeling carnivorous, enrich your entrée by making stews, curries, chilis, soups and casseroles that cast vegetables in co-starring roles with your meat.
Eat Round, Don't Be Round
Eat a well rounded diet to avoid a well rounded stomach. Include foods of all colors and food groups in your meal plans to meet your nutritional needs, quell your appetite and satisfy your desire for a diverse, appealing meal. You must be able to persist with your calorie-wise diet if you plan on achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. But, if you feature green vegetables in your daily food fests, you will fill up on healthful, fibrous edibles that sustain you through the day and reduce the likelihood that you will binge on things you shouldn't eat.
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