The importance of vegetables in the diet has been known for centuries. The idea that the consumption of vegetables is necessary for good health, but also to avoid certain diseases, has always been known for quite some time.
However, an interesting trend is being observed: people are more and more interested in learning about the benefits of vegetables and other plant-based sources of nutrition and their overall health benefits.
Vegetables, as we know them today, actually come from the need to make food healthier and more available to the public. Thus, agricultural civilizations of old were used to eating vegetables rather than meat.
The benefits of vegetables in the diet are multiple, but they also help in controlling weight, regulating blood sugar levels, and preventing cardiovascular disease among others.
In order to do this, you must eat a variety of vegetables rich in all kinds of nutrients. It is therefore important to know which ones are most beneficial for health and how they can be integrated into your daily diet. A good suggestion would be the following: every day at lunch or dinner, add a portion of vegetables to your plate!
The Harvard School of Public Health’s latest dietary guidelines call for
five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day (2½ to 6½ cups per
day), depending on one’s caloric intake. For a person who needs 2,000
calories a day to maintain weight and health, this translates into nine servings, or 4½ cups, per day (2 cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables).