“Eat your greens!”

How many times have you heard this?

…And if you’re a proud parent, you would have no doubt used these words yourself many of times…

But apart from the obvious fact that when grown in nutritious soil, they will contain adequate amounts of nutrition – have you ever wondered what the big deal was?

Here’s something for you… when I was doing my health studies, the knowledge that I picked up on old mate green leaf was enough to see me having a green juice every single day without fail for the last 2 and a half years – true story.

So what’s the deal & why are they so amazing for you?

Put simply – leafy greens store an incredibly dense amount of nutrients in their leaves in order to produce future seeds which will allow the species to keep on living.

In other words, they want to pass on as much nutrition as possible to their offspring, and will store the nutrients in their leaves in anticipation of this miraculous event!

This then means that if you grow your own leafy greens (if you’re don’t we hope you will be soon – hint hint!) and you pick the leaves before they start to produce seeds, you’re body will reap all the benefits!

What’s even more incredible is the next 5 things that these amazing guys can do for you…. ready?

1. They contain a BOAT LOAD of Chlorophyll
The process of absorbing sunlight & converting it into energy is called Photosynthesis which leads to the formation of Chlorophyll.
Only plants produce this – nothing else.
Chlorophyll (you’ve probably seen this around as a superfood in a jar) is known for eliminating toxins from the body. Chlorophyll also assists in maintaining healthy blood flow & hormonal balance. Chlorophyll is said to be one of the strongest super foods out there. But instead of eating it from a bottle, just try to include as many leafy greens into your diet as possible. It’s powerful stuff.

2. Strong Bones
Unfortunately these days, the ‘typical’ Western diet leads to a highly acidic blood PH level.
What on earth does this mean?
Put simply, the PH level of our blood needs to be ‘alkaline’… BUT… if we’ve been feeding our body with things like refined sugars/flours/grains/alcohol (all things highly acidic), it will push our body to the acidic spectrum.

So your body can remain Alkaline (so you don’t die…literally), it will draw minerals from your bones (as those minerals are alkaline) to counteract the effect of the acid. Eating leafy greens makes sure that your body doesn’t have to dip into your bone minerals, leaving you with awesome bone health.

3: They Improve Nutrient Absorption!
As leafy greens are bitter in flavour, the bitterness actually activates tastebuds that then stimulate enzyme production promoting proper digestion. You’d be surprised just how many nutrients your body is missing out on if you don’t have adequate digestion – it’s everything, fortunately, we have leafy greens.

4. Healthy, Glowing, Younger Skin
Leafy greens are PACKED with Vitamin K – & although many may not know it- Vitamin K is one of the key vitamins for healthy skin production, as well as helping to smooth out wrinkles & lines. Vitamin K doesn’t get stored in our body (unlike many other vitamins) which means that we need to be feeding it to ourselves every single day! Green juice anyone?

5. More greens can get rid of your sweet cravings!
By including more leafy greens into your diet, you are actually helping your body change it’s preferences to more bitter foods, instead of unhealthy sweet foods. Isn’t this amazing?

They’re pretty powerful little beasts aren’t they?

Now before you run off to make your green smoothie… keep in mind that once a plant starts to produce seeds (or you see little flowers which will soon turn into seed heads) it also starts to transfer nutrients from the leaves into the seeds. Once all the seeds have been produced, the leaves will turn yellow & dry up as they become completely nutrient deficient.

So for optimal health benefits, always make sure you harvest before they go to seed!

Haven’t started growing greens yet? Next week we’ll give you a list of the easiest greens to grow so you can start straight away!

Okay i’m off to make a juice! 😉

Any questions, thoughts, or contemplations…you know the drill – I love hearing from you!

C x