Vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, fibre and other essential nutrients. These ‘little’ guys are like the spark plugs in your car—without them, you’re not going anywhere!
I think of vitamins and minerals as the keys that unlock cellular processes. Without them the body cannot effectively utilise fuel for working muscles, organs, brain function and to repair tissue or build new components like the hormones and enzymes that direct all the myriad functions happening throughout the body. They also ensure we are in the best position to burn fat for fuel and store carbohydrates and protein where we want them to be stored (in muscle and other functional tissue).
Data from the United States Department of Agriculture suggests that to get the same amounts of some nutrients in fruits, vegetables and berries we may need to eat over one and a half times the amount we would have needed 50 years ago.31 This is due to factors such as soil depletion and the prevalence of lower-nutrient, higher-yield crops. Suffice it to say, to function at your best you need to prioritise vegetables on your plate!
Eat at least six fist-sized servings of vegetables each day
From Carb-Appropriate 101 by Cliff Harvey PhD
Carb-Appropriate 101 gives you 101 daily tips to help you achieve the energy, health & performance you deserve. It includes daily tips for nutrition, movement, exercise, meditation, mindfulness, sleep, stress-reduction, and more! These tips are some of the themes that Cliff has written and spoken about over his decades in practice, in ‘bite-sized’ mini-articles.
Read the book from cover-to-cover, applying a tip a day, or simply open the book to any page to find a valuable health and performance tip to help you feel and perform at your very best.
