Did you know only 8.7% of Australians consume the recommended daily amount of vegetables?
In today’s fast-paced world, people have become more reliant on quick and easy food options in order to accommodate to their busy work-life regimes. However, nutritional depletion can often occur from long-term dietary negligence, having detrimental impacts on your health. Greens are essential in the human diet because their nutrients fuel our cells with what they need in order to function and thrive. Packed with vitamins and minerals, high consumption of green vegetables are linked with increased longevity, bone health and cardiovascular health and decreased risk of cancer, CVD, type 2 diabetes and neurodegeneration.
Our Healthy Greens contains several extremely powerful and beneficial ingredients for human health. Let’s break them down and have a closer look at each:
Organic Wheatgrass - Wheatgrass contains an array of minerals, phytochemicals, active enzymes and vitamins that are easily absorbable. The constituent chlorophyll accounts for about 70% of the plant’s composition and is responsible for its green pigment along with many health benefits. It is what plants use, along with sunlight, to undergo photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is extremely rich in antioxidants, stimulates oxygen flow and production of red blood cells, nourishes the immune system and promotes the detoxification of waste products through the liver and kidneys. Ultimately, it aids digestion & gut health and overall general wellbeing and immunity. Wheatgrass also contains an abundance of vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, B-complex, C, E, magnesium, selenium, iron and calcium, amino acids and glutathione.
Organic Barely Grass - Barely grass is rich in numerous beneficial nutrients including chlorophyll, vitamins A, B1, C, E and K, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, beta-carotene, dietary fibre and antioxidants. It promotes a healthy sleep-cycle, has blood pressure-regulating effects, boosts immunity, nourishes the liver, promotes detoxification, improves cognition and cardiovascular health along with many more benefits. Barely grass has also been attributed with anti-ageing and longevity properties due to the abundance of nutrients packed into this superfood.
Organic Spirulina - Spirulina is a blue-green pigmented algae that has a very long history of beneficial use, dating back to the Aztecs! Nutritionally, it is high in protein (about 70%), but also contains vitamins and minerals like B12, beta-carotenes, potassium, magnesium and iron. It is also easily digested because the algae do not have cellulose cell walls, therefore the breakdown of its components are much less demanding. Clinically, spirulina has shown to significantly boost energy levels, modulate the immune system and exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity.
Organic Chlorella - Like spirulina, chlorella is also an algae species that has many therapeutic effects on human health. It is similar with spirulina in that they both have similar protein contents, but chlorella is higher in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, magnesium, iron and zinc. Clinically, chlorella has shown to have antihypertensive effects as well as reduce arterial stiffness, decrease LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, detoxify carcinogenic and heavy metal compounds (like mercury), boost immunity, reduce oxidative stress and also combat psychological stress.
Organic Spinach - A well-known green leafy vegetable you probably already have in your fridge and is packed with vitamins and minerals. Spinach is renowned for having high nutritional value because it contains so many functional nutrients including carotenoids (chlorophyll), polyphenols, fibre, vitamins A, C, E, K, B6, B2, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, selenium, phosphorus, folate, omega-3 fatty acids, quercetin and many more. Spinach has powerful antioxidant properties and has shown to lower hyperlipidaemic-induced oxidative stress in the blood and liver, primarily through inhibiting the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Spinach also has antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity.
Peppermint - Peppermint is often used to encourage smooth muscle relaxation, as a digestive aid, an anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory as well as a mental relaxant. It contains menthol, which is thought to be primarily responsible for the plant’s medicinal properties. It is commonly used to soothe symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Organic Ginger - A common culinary herb that also has wonderful medicinal properties that have been utilised for centuries. Ginger has major benefits on the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), providing protective, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects on the gut and its functioning which is why it’s commonly used as a digestive aid.
So, there you have it. A closer look into what exactly is in our Healthy Greens, how it’s beneficial for your health, and therefore should be a staple in your daily routine no matter how demanding or fast-paced it may be. Speaking of routine- why don’t we finish with some quick and easy tips & tricks on how to sneak more greens into your diet?
Tips & Tricks to Sneak More Greens into Your Diet
- Mixing Healthy Greens into a glass of water or juice
- Adding Healthy Greens into your morning smoothie
- Sprinkling Healthy Greens into your breakfast bowl
- Adding Healthy Greens into your favourite recipe eg. pasta sauce/soup/curry/dips
- Adding any wilted greens (spinach, rocket, kale, silver beet, Swiss chard etc.) into a smoothie or blend them into a paste with a little water, freeze, and use them as smoothie cubes!
Refs
Anh, N. H., Kim, S. J., Long, N. P., Min, J. E., Yoon, Y. C., Lee, E. G., Kim, M., Kim, T. J., Yang, Y. Y., Son, E. Y., Yoon, S. J., Diem, N. C., Kim, H. M., & Kwon, S. W. (2020). Ginger on Human Health: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of 109 Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutrients, 12(1), 157. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12010157
Bito, T., Okumura, E., Fujishima, M., & Watanabe, F. (2020). Potential of Chlorella as a Dietary Supplement to Promote Human Health. Nutrients, 12(9), 2524. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092524
Chumpitazi, B. P., Kearns, G. L., & Shulman, R. J. (2018). Review article: the physiological effects and safety of peppermint oil and its efficacy in irritable bowel syndrome and other functional disorders. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 47(6), 738–752. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14519
Eissa, H.A., Mohamed, S.S. & Hussein, A. M. S. (2020). Nutritional value and impact of wheatgrass juice (Green Blood Therapy) on increasing fertility in male albino rats. Bull Natl Res Cent 44(3). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-0272-x
Finamore, A., Palmery, M., Bensehaila, S., & Peluso, I. (2017). Antioxidant, Immunomodulating, and Microbial-Modulating Activities of the Sustainable and Ecofriendly Spirulina. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2017, 3247528. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/3247528
Karkos, P. D., Leong, S. C., Karkos, C. D., Sivaji, N., & Assimakopoulos, D. A. (2011). Spirulina in clinical practice: evidence-based human applications. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2011, 531053. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nen058
Ko, S. H., Park, J. H., Kim, S. Y., Lee, S. W., Chun, S. S., & Park, E. (2014). Antioxidant Effects of Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) Supplementation in Hyperlipidemic Rats. Preventive nutrition and food science, 19(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.3746/pnf.2014.19.1.019
Parit, S. B., Dawkar, V. V., Tanpure, R. S., Pai, S. R., & Chougale, A. D. (2018). Nutritional Quality and Antioxidant Activity of Wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum) Unwrap by Proteome Profiling and DPPH and FRAP assays. Journal of food science, 83(8), 2127–2139. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.14224
Roughani, A., & Miri, S. M. (2019). Spinach: An important green leafy vegetable and medicinal herb. The 2nd International Conference on Medicinal Plants, Organic Farming, Natural and Pharmaceutical Ingredients, 1-6. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329699312_Spinach_An_important_green_leafy_vegetable_and_medicinal_herb
Zeng, Y., Pu, X., Yang, J., Du, J., Yang, X., Li, X., Li, L., Zhou, Y., & Yang, T. (2018). Preventive and Therapeutic Role of Functional Ingredients of Barley Grass for Chronic Diseases in Human Beings. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2018, 3232080. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/3232080
