Let us talk about some more of the health benefits of the fiber in vegetables. We talked in the last post about fiber binding to toxins and being eliminated and fiber helps to keep things a moving through the digestive tract. What else can fiber do? Well, fiber can help control blood sugar levels. I have talked in previous posts about fat doing this, stabilize blood sugars. Fiber can be a key player in being able to do this as well. If you have type II diabetes, and you eat nothing but raw vegetables for two weeks, you can actually stabilize your blood sugar levels. I do not know about you, but I am not going to go on a raw veggie diet for two weeks to this! I do not have diabetes either and I do not want to have it. Therefore, I eat a lot of healthy fat, protein and vegetables. Having stables blood sugar levels will help to prevent diabetes and any blood sugar issues.
Fiber can also help in weight lose. You see, fiber will help to keep you full longer, just like fat and protein. When we are full for longer periods, we do not eat as much. Fiber will stick around in your stomach for long periods because it is not broken down. It hangs out, finds toxins, binds to them and then helps you to eliminate. If you are wanting to lose weight, be sure you are adding raw vegetables to every meal or as a snack throughout the day for all of their benefits. There are some fruits that have a fiber in them as well, like berries, apples or pears for example. Eating these will have the same benefits as eating vegetables, just watch the sugar content.
We have talked about the many and varied and wide benefits of eating vegetables. You are saying, all right, you have convinced me to eat more of them, but I do not like them and it is boring to eat them raw all the time. What are some ways I can add more vegetables to my diet? I am glad you asked! Here are some of my favorite ways to eat them.
Hublet and I really enjoy eating stir frys. We use a wide verity of vegetables, always trying to hit every color. We add some sort of meat. Then we do a hot, spicy curry in coconut cream to top it off. They are delicious. We try to eat one at least once a week. Be sure to not cook the vegetables to long, you do not want them to be mushy. Instead of white rice, which is sugar and will spike your insulin levels, we like to eat quinoa. Quinoa also has great health benefits to it.
I am a big salad eater, I love salads. Here again, you can add whatever type of vegetables you want, the more the better. The great thing with this, is they are raw. I do not use store bought dressing. There are some very scary ingredients in those. If you are looking for weight lose or weight maintenance, there are things in store dressing which will make you gain weight. We will talk more about those later. I make my own dressings or use vinegar and olive oil. Be creative with your salads, they do not have to be boring. Add things like nuts and seeds for taste and health.
The newest thing I have started doing is vegetable smoothies. I am more into smoothies than juicing. My biggest problem with juicing is you lose the fiber in the vegetables and fruit. Beings I obtain most of my fiber from vegetables and fruit, I do smoothies. I like to put in yogurt and then a wide variety of vegetables and a little fruit. I put in salad, spinach, kale, beets, tomatoes, carrots, celery, avocado, whatever I have in my fridge. For fruit, I like to use some frozen bananas, again whatever I have in my fridge or freezer. Blend until smooth and enjoy.
I enjoy eating my veggies or fruit with all natural peanut butter or some other nut butter. By putting some nut butter on your veggies and fruit, it gives them more flavor and the added benefits of the nuts. With the fruit it is great because of the sugar in the fruit. You should always eat your fruit with some fat and protein so you do not spike your insulin levels.
Soups during the winter months are always great. I will even put some in my chili. Cook the vegetables with the chili and then blend them. Everyone will think it is seasonings.
Frittata, which is basically a quiche, it just does not have a crust getting in the way are very yummy. Eggs, bacon, sausages, whatever meat you want, if you want it and all the veggies you want. I put cheese in it, bake at 350 for about half hour, check for doneness with a toothpick. Add full fat sour cream, avocados, salsa, what ever you would like.
Grilled vegetables are always yummy. you can put them either right on the grill, depending on what it is or in tin foil with butter and seasonings, cook until done.
Steam them on the stove. You need a little water and loads of butter. I like my vegetables dripping in butter, that is when they are the best steamed. I added seasonings and enjoy.
In my garden this year, we had a summer squash that was a producer. What I did was cut them in about 1/4 inch slices, put a little olive oil on, some seasoning and dried them on my food dehydrator. Hublet got it for my for my birthday the first year we were married, I love it. Hublet did not think he was going to like them at first, my first batch, he ate the whole thing. I have tried several different seasonings and they have all been good. They are good to eat plan or with salsa. I am a huge fan of chips and salsa, but since I do not eat many chips any longer, due to their unhealthiness, which is will talk about later, I have been depressed. No longer! Salsa and dried squash chips are awesome. Here I am eating homemade salsa and squash chips, veggies all around.
Be creative with your food and adding vegetables to your diet. Once you begin eating them, you will feel better and begin to crave them.
Am I advocating a vegetarian diet? By all means, NO. I am not one who promotes this type of diet. God designed out bodies to eat meat. There are very important vitamins and minerals we receive from meat and can not get them any other way. People who are vegetarians tend to be more sick, they get more colds and bugs that are going around. They are also deficient in very key minerals and vitamins, making them sick. We need meat. We also need to be eating more vegetables along with our meat.
Be sure to listen to your body. I know of people who do not eat vegetables because their bodies do not do well with them. This is few and far between though. Most everyone needs some vegetables. Your body will tell you if a certain vegetable or fruit is not right for it. If you eat anything and feel sick, tired, lethargic, gaseous or just not right, it would be best to avoid that food. Avoid it for several weeks and then eat it again. If it makes you sick, do not eat it. We need to learn to listen to our bodies. They are amazing and can tell you what it needs to be healthy and thrive.
In the love of Christ,
Jenn
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