Leafy greens, fruits, and veggies are a pillar for overall health. Vegetable consumption can provide vital nutrients that protect the body from heart disease, high blood pressure, lower diabetes risk, and even reduce cancer risks.
Still, we know that eating vegetables and enough fruits during the day can be hard because of hectic schedules and daily activities one must perform. There’s not much time left to be cooking, which leads to eating processed foods instead.
So today, following some recommendations of Healthcanal.com, we will talk about the consequences of not having enough of these plant-based foods in your diet, and tips on how to integrate them easily. Get comfy!
What Happens If You Don’t Eat Vegetables?
Without fruits and vegetables, the body’s defenses are reduced, since most of the antioxidants that fight free radicals that stress our body’s cells are found in these foods. Also, a lot of micronutrients like selenium and zinc are found in many vegetables and fruits, which promote a healthy immune system.
We run out of vitamin C if we do not consume fruits and vegetables, since vitamin C is found almost exclusively in these foods and its deficiency can lead to low defenses, coagulation problems, anemia, among others.
Deficiency Hemorrhagic Disease
Vitamin K is a substance that our body needs to form clots and stop bleeding. We get it from the foods we eat. Vitamin K deficiency anemia bleeding happens when bleeding can’t be stopped because there is not enough of this vitamin in the blood to form a clot. Bleeding can occur anywhere in the body, internally or externally. It is found mainly in green vegetables. Eating fruits such as kiwi, blackberries, and blueberries can provide you with this vitamin.
Heart Disease
Without fruits and vegetables, there is a greater risk of suffering cardiovascular problems, because the water and potassium content of the diet is reduced. Together with fiber, they are necessary to prevent atherosclerosis, circulatory problems, hypertension, among others. According to Posh Beauty Blog, eating fruits and veggies can do wonders like lowering blood pressure.
Anemia
Not eating fruits and vegetables causes insufficient tissue oxygenation, which leads to anemia. Anemia occurs when there is an iron deficiency and the blood does not carry enough oxygen to the rest of the body. The treatment for anemia consists of improving eating habits. Eating fruits can help increase iron levels in the blood and provide vitamins that fix this mineral in the body.
Vision Problems
Nowadays, many people suffer from vision problems and headaches because they strain their eyes and expose their eyes to blue-violet light from the screens of different devices. Among the vitamins that can improve eyesight and prevent or delay deterioration is vitamin A, which helps improve night vision, vitamin E, which provides antioxidant properties, and vitamin C, which protects against ultraviolet radiation and prevents cataracts that affect the retina of the eye. All of them can be obtained from some fruits and vegetables.
Increased Cancer Risks
Fruits and vegetables are necessary to maintain healthy cells. Some studies show that a high intake of vegetables and fruits could reduce the risk of cancer. This effect is observed in epidemiological studies, where the high consumption of these foods produces a decrease in some types of cancer. Other studies show that diets low in fruits and vegetables increase the incidence of cancers of the lung, larynx, oropharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, and pancreas.
Muscle Cramps
A diet poor in fruits, vegetables, and greens is usually the frequent cause of potassium deficiency, which in severe cases is called hypokalemia. A deficient nutritional state in this mineral can be another cause of muscle cramps since the lack of potassium leads to alterations in the electrical potentials of the membrane (the engines of muscle action).
Develop Digestive Problems
One of the most notorious and immediate consequences is slow intestinal transit, constipation, and irregularity of these functions of the organism. Not consuming fiber causes constipation to the point of generating digestive ailments such as hemorrhoids, diverticula, and even cancer of the colon and rectum.
Develop Diabetes
One of the main reasons why we should consume fruits and vegetables is to prevent obesity and diabetes. These chronic diseases could be prevented by decreasing the consumption of processed foods, too much fat (such as butter, cheeses, fatty meats, some vegetable oils, etc.), and sugar while increasing the consumption of a variety of vegetables which can lower blood sugar.
How to Eat More Veggies in Your Diet
Now that you know the risks of not having enough fruits and vegetables, we will talk about the dietary approaches for eating foods that have enough vegetables to comply with the necessary daily intake.
Greens Powders
Green powders are an excellent way for filling nutrient deficiencies in diets. They are made of low-carbohydrate vegetables such as powdered green leafy vegetables, fruits, and superfoods. They can aid the body to regulate glucose levels as well as protect healthy cells and provide vitamin C. Make sure you learn about the supplements from a reliable source before taking them in.
Frozen fruits
Frozen fruit is one more option that we have within our reach and many times we may think that it is not valid within a healthy diet. However, there are many reasons why we should include frozen fruits in our “healthy pantry fund”:
- It keeps all its nutrients intact
- It has maximum freshness
- It does not need preservatives
- It comes clean, cut, and peeled, that is, ready to eat or have as smoothies
The Final Words
Eating fruits and vegetables is a must for overall health. We could list a lot of other consequences that occur if we do not consume fruits and vegetables regularly, because by reducing the body’s defenses we are more likely to get sick from any cause and suffer a lack of vitamins and minerals that we know are of great importance for the proper functioning of our body, so consequences go a lot beyond weight gain.
