The Mediterranean and low carb Mediterranean diets include a lot of healthy vegetables. It’s no secret that vegetables are crucial to keep help us stay healthy. In order to have a healthy body, you must eat your veggies and following the Mediterranean diet is a great way to do that. Your daily quota should be five to nine servings. However, not all veggies are created equal and to keep your immune system up to par to battle cancer, diabetes, and heart disease you need the healthiest veggies.
Want to find out which veggies are the healthiest? Check out the following list of vegetables and their health values:
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is a member of the cancer-fighting cruciferous family of vegetables. It is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich and may boost both your heart and brain health. Eating cauliflower will provide your body with impressive amounts of vitamin C, vitamin k, beta-carotene, and much more while supporting healthy digestion and detoxification.
Cabbage
Apart from a popular choice in healthy salad recipes, did you know cabbage offers a host of benefits? The health benefits of cabbage include its frequent use as a treatment for constipation, stomach ulcers, headaches, obesity, skin disorders, eczema, jaundice, and scurvy. It also helps prevent or delay the onset of rheumatism, arthritis, gout, eye disorders, heart diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Avocados
Avocado health benefits include acting as an aphrodisiac, helps in treating arthritis, helps with diabetes management, promotes skin health, promotes weight loss, a rich source of fiber, can help improve cholesterol profile, bolster absorption of plant-based nutrients, support eye health, contain essential folic acid, and help promote liver function.
Broccoli
Few foods measure up to the disease-fighting potential of broccoli. This cruciferous vegetable is packed with antioxidants that help reduce the risk of stomach, lung and rectal cancers. And because broccoli is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C and folate, it is also good at boosting your immunity to colds and flu. Also, broccoli is used widely in many diet plans and recipes including the Mediterranean Diet. You can find plenty of recipes with broccoli on health news tips.
Brussels Sprout
These little green veggies are especially important for a pregnant woman because they’re packed with folic acid, a B-vitamin that prevents neural tube defects. It is used widely in a variety of diet plans, especially Ketogenic Diet. Brussels sprouts are also packed with vitamins C and K as well as fiber, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Carrots
These orange-wonders are loaded with eye, skin and hair-enriching nutrients. They’re also the richest vegetable source of some important antioxidants, like vitamin A. And because they’re rich in vitamin C, carrots protect your cardiovascular system from damage.
Squash
A good source of anti-inflammatory nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene, squash, especially summer squash, can help treat dozens of conditions including asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Squash is also rich in potassium, magnesium, and fiber.
Sweet Potato
This root vegetable has dozens of anti-cancer nutrients like vitamin A, C and manganese. They’re also a good source of fiber and iron, so not only do they give you energy, they can also help regulate your digestive system.
Eggplant
High in heart-healthy nutrients, eggplants are rich in antioxidants like nasunin (a unique compound that protects your brain cells from damage). Eggplants are the staple of Mediterranean foods. And because eggplants are loaded with fiber and potassium, researchers believe they may reduce your risk of stroke and dementia. Similar to tomatoes, eggplants are also acidic and should be consume in moderation. I don’t do a lot with eggplants but I do enjoy the eggplants based low carb pizza
Bell Peppers
Whether you prefer red, orange or yellow, bell peppers are packed with dozens of heart-healthy nutrients like lycopene and folic acid. And recent research suggests digging into a pepper every day may lower your risk of developing lung, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancers.
Spinach
This chlorophyll-packed type of produce is an excellent source of almost every vitamin and nutrient you need. You should eat spinach for lunch or at dinner. Scientists believe a diet heavy in spinach may be able to prevent everything from heart disease to colon cancer, and arthritis to osteoporosis. The best thing is that you can actually cook fabulous low carb Mediterranean recipes with spinach. My favorite spinach Mediterranean dish is the Halloumi with spinach and mushrooms
Onions
These pungent smelling veggies are particularly good for people suffering from (or at risk of developing) osteoporosis. That’s because onions are loaded with a peptide called GPCS which scientists believe slows your body’s loss of calcium. Onions may also be useful in the fight against heart disease and diabetes because they’re loaded with vitamin C and folate.
Tomatoes
Though technically a fruit, tomatoes are most often served as a vegetable. Full of lycopene, these beautiful red orbs (and all tomato-based products) are renowned for their cancer-fighting capabilities. Not only are they chock full of vitamins goodness (from vitamins A to K), they also keep our blood pressure in check and help to reduce the number of free radicals in our bodies. Tomatoes are used quite frequently in healthy salads all around the world. It is important to know that tomatoes are very acidic and therefore should be consume in moderation.