Eat Your Vegetables!

Why should we eat vegetables? You have probably heard eating vegetables is good for you, but do you really know why? Most people do not know why, but fresh fruits and vegetables are vital for optimum health.

Ever heard of antioxidants? How about free radicals? Well those are two of the reasons why we need to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day to keep our body's healthy.

Scientists now believe that free radicals are the cause in nearly every known disease from heart disease to arthritis to cancer to cataracts. It is also now known to be the major culprit of the aging process.

If free radicals are the major culprit of disease and aging, then antioxidants are the soldiers that can help win the battle against their negative effects.

Free radicals are everywhere. In our environment through substances like smoke, pollutants, solar radiation (the sun) and certain chemicals. Free radicals are in the air we breath, and we even create them when we exercise. They are produced in our bodies through the normal course of energy production.

Antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables, that is one of the most important reasons for eating them daily. They help to fight the battle of too many free radicals in the body.

The "National Cancer Institute" and "National Institute of Health" recommend that we have a minimum of five but preferably nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. A serving is equal to a half of a cup.

So no more whining about "I don't like vegetables", that is very child like. Grow up and start taking care of yourself so you can be healthy, young looking, and strong. Eat your vegetables!

We forget that the main reason we eat food is for nutrition. It is not for joy, or pleasure, or any other emotional reason. It is to feed the body with nutrition.

We are the fattest most undernourished country in the world because most people eat foods that have hardly any nutrition in them. Start eating natures foods....fruits and vegetables are a great place to begin to put good nutrition into your body.

Make the choice to eat healthier in 2010. Eating foods full of antioxidants is a way to start getting healthier. Make the conscious choice to have them in your diet each and everyday.

Till tomorrow
Queenie