5 Essential Health Benefits Of Eating Leafy And Green Vegetables

by Natalie Bohin July 04, 2019

Revitalize your body with green vegetables! Know more about the benefits of eating leafy greens here.

Why Eating Green Vegetables Is Good for You

Mom Was Right About the Green Leafy Vegetables

From a young age, you’ve no doubt been encouraged to eat your greens. Whether it was broccoli, spinach, or green beans, your mom probably made you eat some sort of green vegetables every day.

You may have hated eating them, even when your parents tried to convince you they were full of vitamins and minerals. Now, you understand the importance of eating these green vegetables.

Maybe nutritional powerhouses like kale, broccoli, and spinach are even regularly found in your fridge nowadays.

The Healthiest Dark Leafy Green Vegetables

Incorporating leafy green vegetables into your daily diet helps improve your health. They can help reduce the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases, as well as control blood sugar levels.

Which green vegetables are the best to include in your diet? Here are some of the best kinds of leafy greens to consume:

1. Collard Greens

These loose-leaf vegetables taste bitter, but they’re packed with a lot of nutrients. They belong to the same family as kale.

Collard greens contain Vitamin C, B9, A, and K, as well as calcium.

2. Kale

Kale greens pack so many nutrients and are one of the most popular green vegetables.

Not only does it contain various vitamins and minerals, but kale also contains lutein and beta-carotene. These antioxidants counter the effects of oxidative stress in the body.

What is oxidative stress? This occurs when the body experiences an imbalance of antioxidants and free radicals. If not countered, it can result in cell and tissue damage.

3. Spinach

Spinach doesn’t just make Popeye strong, it also makes anyone who eats it strong and healthy.

This unassuming green can be added into smoothies, soups, and salads. You’ll love eating it because it contains Vitamin K and A, as well as manganese and folate.

What is folate? Also known as Vitamin B6, this nutrient assists in cell growth and red blood cell production.

4. Turnip Greens

These are the leaves of a turnip plant and classified as cruciferous, which means they can help lower the risk of developing health issues like bowel inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.
They also contain various antioxidants to help the body fight off the effects of oxidative stress.

Other leafy green vegetables to include in your daily meals include arugula, watercress, Romaine lettuce, Bok Choy, and Swiss chard, although not everyone finds green vegetables appetizing.

But now another category of greens is becoming an integral part of a healthy diet: super greens.

What Are Super Greens?

Green foods grown in water such as micro-algae spirulina and wheatgrass are gaining massively in popularity and for good reason. Although small in size, they pack a huge punch with an astonishingly high concentration of nutrients.

These types of greens are often known as super greens.

Here are some of the benefits of super greens:

Good source of fiber
Provide digestive enzymes for gut health
Weight loss
Boost energy
Promote healthy skin

If you’re feeling run down and tired, incorporating super greens into your routine is a great way to give yourself a boost.

These super greens are like green vegetables but on another level.

Tip: Experience the full benefits of super greens with Sunwarrior Ormus Super Greens.

Nutrients from Super Greens

Super greens are very nutrient-dense and packed with beneficial properties. They can either be eaten in their natural state or in a supplemental green powder form.

If eating wheatgrass or spirulina doesn’t sound appealing, try incorporating them into your diet in powder form like in a smoothie with fruit to mask the taste.

1. Phytonutrients

One of the largest benefits of consuming super greens is they contain phytonutrients. These phytonutrients from plants are super important and may help to prevent disease and keep your body in proper working order.

2. Vitamins

Plus, greens typically contain high amounts of Vitamin A and C. Both of these essential vitamins help to support a healthy immune system.

3. Probiotics

An additional benefit of using green powders is that they typically contain probiotics.

A healthy digestive system and immune system start with having enough good bacteria in your gut. So be sure to check if your super greens powder contains probiotics.

4. Chlorophyll

You also want to be sure to eat a diet rich in green superfoods as they naturally contain chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll is what gives certain foods their characteristically green color. Deep green may not look all too appealing but it offers a lot of benefits to the body.

Chlorophyll is noted for its detoxification properties, cancer-fighting abilities, and therapeutic benefits.

In a review on wound care, chlorophyll was shown to reduce inflammation and bacterial growth in skin wounds.

Another 90-day-study found that people with high blood pressure who took greens powder found an 8% decrease in both diastolic and systolic blood pressure. The control group showed no signs of improvement in blood pressure.

Which Super Greens Are the Healthiest?

So, there’s no question that you need super greens in your life, but which greens are considered the most nutritionally dense?

There are a variety of super greens to choose from, and as with anything, it’s great to consume a range of them as each one can provide different health benefits. Super greens include:

Barley grass
Wheatgrass
Alfalfa grass
Spirulina
Chlorella

If you want to go ahead and feel the benefits of eating super greens, try making a smoothie with them.

This super green smoothie is a quick and easy snack. Plus, it makes you feel energized and refreshed all day.

You just have to blend together Sunwarrior Super Greens mint, Liquid Light, frozen bananas and pineapples, apple juice, and chia seeds to enjoy this delicious and nutritious smoothie!

What Are the Benefits of Supergreens?

1. Good Source of Fiber

Super greens are a great source of dietary fiber. Fiber is essential for digestive health and regular bowel movements, so be sure to eat a diet high in fiber.

Fiber also encourages you to remove toxins from your body in an efficient way. Eating a diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is the best way to get enough fiber.

By supplementing with a super greens powder, you’ll be sure to get in some extra daily fiber that’s healthy for your body and revitalizes your energy to keep going strong all day.

2. Provide Digestive Enzymes for Gut Health

Another of the benefits of super greens is that they provide digestive enzymes.

So, what exactly are digestive enzymes? Well, these particles help with the digestion of other foods, especially proteins.

In order to properly break down food, you need digestive enzymes.

So if you experience indigestion, bloating, heartburn, or a stomach ache after eating, you may just need more digestive enzymes in your diet.

By adding these to your diet in the form of greens, it can help to make your digestion more efficient.

3. Weight Loss

So, do you remember when we talked about how chlorophyll is great for its detoxification abilities? The chlorophyll contained in super greens has been linked to weight loss.

One study actually found that people who took a green plant membrane supplement including chlorophyll reported greater weight loss than the group who didn’t take anything. Researchers also found a reduction in harmful cholesterol levels in the supplement-taking group.

Now, this doesn’t mean that chlorophyll alone is something you can take in a pill and magically lose weight. But, along with a healthy diet and exercise, chlorophyll can give your metabolism an extra boost to help you lose more weight faster.

4. Boost Energy

Super greens also help you feel revitalized and give your energy levels a boost. For non-coffee drinkers, this is good news.

In a three-month study of healthy women, those consuming greens powder reported significant increases in energy levels compared to the placebo group who had no changes in energy levels.

Maybe one morning, try replacing your cup of coffee with a super greens smoothie to see how you feel. Even if you still want to stick with your caffeinated coffee or tea, adding more super greens into your diet makes you feel better longer.

5. Promote Healthy Skin

So, this is a big one for those with acne or even if you just have dull skin. Super greens have been shown to promote skin healing.

Chlorophyll, which is found in super greens, appears to encourage the growth of new skin cells and may even be effective in people with mild to moderate acne.

In one study, people with acne and large pores saw an improvement in their skin after using a topical chlorophyllin gel for three weeks.

You may even find that old acne scars fade away since chlorophyll encourages new skin cell growth. Or if your skin is always dull, chlorophyll can help to brighten and revitalize your complexion.

Sunwarrior’s Ormus Super Greens Powder

If the thought of trying to squeeze these different types of greens into your diet feels a little overwhelming, try Sunwarrior Ormus Super Greens powder.

You might be wondering, what is Ormus?

Ormus elements are monoatomic minerals which have been protected by volcanic soil and primitive seabeds over the years. These minerals were even called "The Food Of The Gods" by the Ancient Egyptians.

Sunwarrior’s super greens powder is made up of Ormus elements, trace minerals, probiotics, juice powders, and plenty of super greens.

Almost half of the greens come from juice powders. Instead of using whole ground leaves, juice powders are made from drying and juicing the grasses.

There isn’t much heat produced during this process. Heat can actually destroy the nutritional density of these greens.

So, drying and juicing the grasses preserve the number of nutrients and fiber in the product. Juice powders are several times as potent as whole powders with even higher concentrations of beneficial nutrients.

In Sunwarrior’s Super Greens powder, you find a wide range of super greens:

Alfalfa
Oat grass
Wheatgrass
Barley grass
Spinach
Moringa
Ginger root
Stevia

Choose Plant-Based Super Greens Powder

Completely vegan, certified organic and free from soy and gluten, a super greens powder is an easy and convenient way to add a nutritional boost to your daily routine.

Sunwarrior wanted their products to be as safe and close to nature as possible. We are proud to produce products with the highest quality ingredients we could find.

Variety in nutrition is best. That’s why our super greens powder comes from a variety of sources rather than just one.

Mix, or blend the powder with your favorite drink or add it to nut milk or a smoothie. Perfect for pre- or post-workout for increased and sustainable energy levels.

Learn more about Orus SuperGreens in this video from Sunwarrior:

It’s always great to include green vegetables in your plant-based diet, but eating only salad greens can get monotonous. That’s why it’s advisable to incorporate super green supplements to your diet.

Whether you add a shot of wheatgrass juice to your morning routine or supplement powdered greens into your diet, there’s no denying the benefits of greens.

Packed with minerals, digestive enzymes, antioxidants and phytonutrients, greens can revitalize your body and give you the energy boost you’ve been looking for.

Have you tried adding a super greens supplement to your drink or meals? Share your experience in the comments section below!

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 13, 2019, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

Natalie Bohin