How Adding More Vegetables To Your Diet Can Prevent Heart Disease
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Pretty much everyone knows that they should be eating vegetables, even if they don’t necessarily make the decision to do so. However, knowing the specific health benefits of a vegetable-based diet can make it much easier to take this step and stop relying so much on meat.
There is plenty of research to back up the health benefits of fruit and vegetables. Some of the latest research shows that a diet rich in vegetables can lower your risk of heart disease.
Heart Disease, The Number One Killer Of American Adults
When it comes to lowering your risk of disease and early death, you should definitely be focused on your heart. In the United States, heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women. The earlier you make important lifestyle changes, the more you can benefit from healthy eating.
Swapping Meat Out In Favor Of Veggies And The Research
Don’t worry, you do not have to say goodbye to your beloved beef and chicken. In fact, meat can still be part of a very healthy diet. You simply need to focus more on produce than on meat-based products.
Research in this area focuses on how increasing your vegetable intake can affect your heart health and your risk of heart disease. The latest research is extremely promising. It shows that, not only can you lower your risk of heart disease, you can actually reverse heart disease with a vegetable-based diet.
If you are like most Americans, you likely eat meat at almost every meal. With all of the different protein sources available today, there is really no reason to be consuming meat three times per day. Making small changes in your daily diet can add up to huge health benefits over time.
Easy Switches To Make
A lifestyle change doesn’t have to be painful and unwelcome to be effective. In fact, making small and gradual changes is often better in the long term than huge overhauls.
To start, consider picking a day where you go meatless. “Meatless Monday” is a bit of a trend. Instead of starting your day with sausage and bacon, try a bowl of oatmeal topped with some fresh fruits. At lunch, have a bowl of vegetable broth. For your evening meal, consider carrot or zucchini pasta, salad, or use vegetables in place of meat in a casserole.
As you get used to eating more vegetables, it will become easier and easier to replace the meat in your diet with other protein sources. It’s also easier to eat vegetables if you try as many different vegetables as possible. A broad palate pays off when it comes to establishing a healthy diet.
Get The Whole Family On Board
No matter how many people you’re cooking for, you can help them enjoy the benefits of a produce-rich diet. This is especially true for kids, whose palates are still versatile enough that you can teach them to love just about anything.
Protect yourself from heart disease and give yourself a long and healthy life to look forward to by counting on vegetables for your food.
Sources:
https://www.nature.com/jhh/journal/v21/n9/abs/1002212a.html
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/09/02/absence-of-meat-makes-the-heart-grow-stronger
https://jn.nutrition.org/content/133/1/199.short
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-and-fruits/
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