4 additional benefits of eating your greens

Your parents have told you green vegetables would make you stronger. These vegetables have a myriad of benefits, so read on for unexpected ways green vegetables benefit one's health.

• One recently discovered benefit of eating green vegetables is that it has a huge effect on the immune system. That is, experts believe that certain cells within green veggies, called intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL's) can help boost the immune system in order to help people avoid getting sick.
• IEL's can be found in cruciferous green vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and kale.

• Many leafy green vegetables have been shown to help the body naturally reduce its own cholesterol. This occurs when the fibre in leafy greens binds to bile acids excreted from the liver.
• Since the liver must use cholesterol to make these bile acids, it uses up more cholesterol when replacing excreted bile acids. As a result, leafy green vegetables are powerful and unexpected factors for naturally lowering the level of cholesterol that exists in the body.

• Leafy greens don't just help your insides; they help your outsides, too. Beta-carotene, which is found in green vegetables like spinach, chard and mustard greens, can help your body repair damage done to your skin by the sun.
• Beta-carotene contributes to growth and repair in the body, which means that leafy greens can help heal sunburns.
• Want to know which green vegetables are highest in beta-carotene? Try spinach, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens or beet greens. Although some beta-carotene exists naturally in romaine lettuce, it is not as high in concentration as that found in dark green vegetables.

• Popeye might have gotten larger, stronger, muscles from eating his spinach, but, in reality, the consumption of green vegetables can help strengthen bones, too.
• Green vegetables (especially dark ones) contain high levels of calcium, which means eating these vegetables can greatly increase bone health and reduce the chances of breakage or osteoporosis.
• As a general rule, the more bitter the green vegetable tastes, the more calcium it contains. To find green veggies ideal for your bone health, consider eating vegetables like kale, broccoli, mustard greens and Swiss chard.