Leafy Greens

Hey y'all! Happy What The Fork Wednesday!

On a scale of 1-5 how good are you at getting greens in every day? Yeah, evvvvery day? I'm like, a 3 average. BUT, I wanna change that to like a 7. What say you?

Greens are SO important to the human body! High in fiber, vitamins, phytonutrients, greens are incredible for your heath in more ways than you would even suspect. Greens help boost digestive enzymes, reduce inflammation, help relieve stress (folate) protect your brain, (there is a really cool study published in Neurology finding that those who ate the most leafy greens each day over an amount of time had slower rates of cognitive decline compared to those who ate the least!

More lovely facts: Eating leafy greens can help improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood glucose levels! They also help temper blood sugar spikes and reduce thyroid dysfunction flare-ups. And, you don't always have to eat them, although in my opinion whole foods are the best way to obtain the most nutritional value, you could have smoothies, juices, organic greens powders, and there are supplements as well.

Did you know that dark leafy greens are one of the best foods you can eat to support your body's natural ability to produce digestive enzymes? Digestive enzymes are critical for breaking down and absorbing the nutrients from our food, so if you are deficient in these enzymes you are likely to experience all sorts of gastrointestinal issues including bloating, constipation, reflux, and nutrient deficiencies. I know I don't want noooone of that! ***buys 17 bunches of kale. HA!

Food is medicine. Holistically for the body, mind, and spirit. This I truly believe. That brings me to my last point: greens may be one of the best cancer preventing foods! This doesn't surprise me at all. Because of their high content of antioxidants (as well as many other foods/superfoods), and the vitamin K content, veggies provide a plethora of help for your insides like protecting bones from osteoporosis and helping to prevent against inflammatory diseases. Just throw some turmeric on and basically you'll never be inflamed right??? Wrong. This has to be a part of an almost daily regimen over time to obtain the benefits! However I do notice a huge different in my mood, sleep, and overall "feel" when I eat more greens. ***goes back to store to get a crap ton of chard and wheat grass. (dramatic).

So, who's gonna hop on the dark green train with me? Sounds kinda creepy cool eh?!

In the pic below, I sauteed some kale with a little evoo and then sprinkled with Himalayan salt and nutmeg. HUGE tip: greens need a lil' salt. AND, another tip (thank you Rachael Ray) is to add sprinkles of (fresh grated if you have it) nutmeg on top of dark greens. Gives them a nutty, earthly, reaaaaal good flavor. I'll never not have fresh nutmeg on much greens, evaaaa!

Hope this gave you all some inspo to spice up the greens in your life! I'm off to the store tomorrow to pick up something in the produce section new to try (hint, its dark and leafy and green). You should too!