Health Benefits of Some of the Green Vegetables

Broccoli

Most known for: Lots of fiber.

A cup of chopped broccoli contains around 2.4 grams of dietary fiber, about 10% of the national fiber recommendations for women. Fiber helps with your digestion, and can be extremely useful in terms of helping promote a healthy gut through feeding the good bacteria in your gut (Healthline).

Other benefits for: Broccoli isn’t just a good source of fiber though; it also contains vitamins C and K which help with building collagen and healthy blood clotting, beta carotene, which you need for good skin, a strong immune system, and eye health.

Try it:

• Steam or microwave it, this preserves more of the nutrients than boiling does (Healthyeating.org)
• Shave it and eat it as a salad; eating it raw is a great way to get all the goodness of the nutrients. Use a potato peeler or a box grater to shave the broccoli thinly, add some seeds, maybe some cheese, and little of your favorite salad dressing and eat up!

Endive

Most known for: Low calorie content

Per leaf, you’re looking at a calorie or less. That’s nuts. But there is more to these than being low calorie.

Other benefits: These are a good veg to eat if you want to add more antioxidants to your diet, (these help you stay young by preventing ‘cell damage and chronic disease’ – (Dr Axe)), and, just like broccoli, are great for your skin and your eyes, as they are a great source of vitamin A.
Try it: These have a bitter taste similar to that of fennel, so knowing how to eat them is key. Some people recommend combining them with other sweet or sour items (The Spruce), like you’d combine black coffee with a donut, so that the strong opposing tastes neutralize each other. If you want to cook them, you can braise them, roast them, or sauté them in butter; this helps remove some of the sharpness, but you’ll still get that satisfying crunch when you bite into them.

Bell peppers

Most known for: Vitamin C.

Eat up a cup or so of chopped bell pepper, and you’ve automatically eaten 100% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C. That’s too easy to pass up.

Other benefits: Along with Vitamin C, bell peppers are a great source of Vitamin A, folate, and vitamin K. Folate is a particularly useful nutrient for expectant mothers, as it helps improve red blood cell function, which can help prevent defects in unborn babies (Livestrong)

Try it with:

• We kind of have to say hummus at this point; slice up some bell pepper and dip it into hummus for a light lunch or a snack.
• Put them on your pizza! Throw together a simple homemade pizza at home; you can use a cauliflower crust or a large tortilla, throw some tomato paste on there, sliced bell peppers, and some fresh veggies. You won’t regret this!