I want to apologize in advance for not leaving out the gross details. There. I said it.
Quite often, people ask me this question:
Can I eat [insert vegetable]?
My answer is almost always yes. How is this possible? There are plenty of vegetables that have a relatively high amount of carbs in them, but even then I usually say yes. Why? Plenty of reasons, and these are only a few of them:
❤ Vegetables are high in fiber. Fiber is not evil. Fiber keeps stuff moving through your digestive system, and will (in most cases) prevent you from getting constipated. Fiber will also prevent your blood sugar from spiking, so even if the vegetable is a little high in carbs it may not necessarily spike your blood sugar as much as expected. A high fiber diet can also decrease the risk of getting haemorrhoids. Basically – fiber has plenty of benefits.
❤ Vegetables have loads of vitamins that are super important. Yes, you can eat vitamin pills and supplements, but the bioavailability of vitamins from pills and supplements is much lower than the vitamins from actual real vegetables.
❤ It’s the ethical thing to do. I’m ignorant enough to assume that none of my followers have ever gone to bed hungry (at least not because they couldn’t afford food), but there are plenty of people who do. I am not vegetarian, nor will I ever be (again), but living solely on meat is not good for us, our environment, and it is certainly not ethical. Meat production is a lot more energy consuming than vegetable production – and if everyone who could afford it were to live on meat alone, there would not be enough food for everyone. Truth is – there is enough food for everyone on this planet. It just isn’t distributed evenly.
❤ Veggies make you happy! According to research from The University of Queensland, eating 8 or more servings of vegetables a day will not only improve your physical health, but also your mental wellbeing. Okay, so normally, seeing as I consider myself a woman of science, I would never say something based on one study. However, eating veggies never hurt anyone, so I think it’s safe to say trusting their research carries very little risk.
❤ Vegetables are filling. They just are. Don’t believe me? Google it.
❤ Vegetables will not make you fat. A lot of us chose the low carb lifestyle because we wanted to lose weight. One of the most important lessons to learn is to look back and figure out what made you gain weight in the first place. For me, it was an unhealthy lifestyle with lots of processed food and high levels of stress. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly certain that no one ever gained weight because they ate too many vegetables.
I am not saying that you should eat 10 carrots a day. But eat a little bit of carrot every now and then. Have a few pieces of an onion on your burger. Eat as much broccoli and cauliflower as you can. Do not be afraid of colors. Realize that corn is not a vegetable, it’s a grain. Low carbing generally does not include eating grains, but a spoonful of corn will not kill you. But most important; Stop being afraid of vegetables.
Fuel The Thought 