Go Green – why leafy vegetables are essential for muscle strength

Green veggies are well-known to be good for us and eating just one cup of leafy green vegetables every day could boost muscle function, according to a new Edith Cowan University (ECU) research. The study, recently published in the Journal of Nutrition, found that people who consumed a nitrate-rich diet, predominantly from vegetables, had significantly better muscle function. Researchers examined data from 3,759 Australians taking part in Melbourne’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute AusDiab study over a 12-year period.

We should be eating a variety of vegetables every day, with at least one of those serves being leafy greens – Dr. Marc Sim

Go for green

While leafy greens may be some of our least favourite vegetables, they could be the most important, according to Dr Sim. The research found nitrate-rich vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach, kale and even beetroot, provided the greatest health benefits. “Less than one in ten Australians eat the recommended five to six serves of vegetables per day,” Dr Sim said. “We should be eating a variety of vegetables every day, with at least one of those serves being leafy greens to gain a range of positive health benefits for the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular system.” “It’s also better to eat nitrate-rich vegetables as part of a healthy diet rather than taking supplements. Green leafy vegetables provide a whole range of essential vitamins and minerals critical for health.”

3 Healthy Green Juice Recipes

Sweet Green

Two large celery ribs
One romaine lettuce head
one medium-sized cucumber
a medium-sized Fuji apple
Half a lemon

This recipe is delicious because it has an apple in it and sour because of the lemon. The romaine lettuce and cucumber pretty much have a neutral flavour. Celery adds a bit of bitterness to this drink.

Spicey Green 

A large handful of spinach
A small handful of parsley
Four medium carrots (peeled)
1 Fuji apple
a clove of garlic
One small chunk of ginger

The garlic and ginger spices this drink up and adds that contrast to this otherwise sweet drink. If you can’t stand the flavor of bitter melon, try this recipe to lower down your blood sugar naturally, but you’ll have to remove (or lessen) the carrots because it also is a source of sugar.

Sleepy Green

Four celery stalks
3 to 4 romaine lettuce heads
Half a lemon
one Fuji applee

Romaine lettuce is a staple of most salads and one of the most nutritious in the lettuce family.Aside from being rich in calcium, vitamin K, iron, and vitamin C, it also helps with insomnia because it has lactucarium – this is the white fluid that comes out when you break the lettuce.