Vegetables have an undeserved reputation for being bland, lacking flavor, or tasting bitter. While you may have been forced to get them down as a kid, as an adult you may still struggle to include veggies in your diet. The problem is that these super foods are packed with everything your body needs to stay healthy, and not eating enough can have some serious consequences.
Vegetables have so many benefits like being rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, which your body uses all of these things to function properly and prevent chronic diseases.
Not eating enough veggies can have many negative effects on your body and health. Here are 8 signs you may not be eating enough veggies.
Insatiable hunger
Adequate fiber from veggies helps to increase satiety (helps keep you full longer because it takes longer to digest) and also helps sustain energy. If you do not eating enough vegetables, you may be craving another meal or snack shortly after the food that you just consumed.”
Dampened mood
Vegetables are an important source of numerous vitamins and minerals that are necessary for our body’s critical functions. If you aren’t eating enough vegetables and the primary source of energy in your diet is from high fat, high carb, or highly processed foods then you are likely getting a burst of energy followed by a crash after most meals.
This can result in fatigue, memory loss, and changes in your mood. Swapping these high-fat foods for more nutrient-dense foods like vegetables will prevent you from feeling that crash. It will also give you sustained energy for a longer period of time. Similarly, the vitamins and minerals found in vegetables can play an important role in your mood regulation.
Regular constipation and irregular bowel movement
Adequate dietary fiber from vegetables helps to add more bulk to waste and helps to move waste more quickly through the intestines. Just make sure to drink enough water while you increase your daily fiber intake.
Constantly being stressed out
Magnesium also helps promote relaxation by maintaining healthy levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter that calms the body and mind. It also plays a role in the body’s stress response system, and deficiency is associated with higher stress and anxiety.
The relationship between magnesium and stress is a two-way street: stress causes magnesium depletion and magnesium deficiency amplifies stress. Veggies, especially dark leafy greens like spinach, are one of the best sources of magnesium. So, not getting enough veggies in your diet could certainly cause low blood levels of this mineral.”
Dull skin
Vegetables are packed with antioxidants that may help prevent our body from free radicals that may damage our skin texture. Also, many veggies like tomatoes are packed with water, and can be hydrating for the skin.”
Susceptibility to muscle cramps.
Muscles need enough potassium for smooth muscle contraction. So, muscle cramps and twitches can occur if your blood levels of potassium are too low. Fruits and veggies are the best sources of potassium, so it’s important to get enough produce in the diet. The best vegetable sources of potassium include dark leafy greens, like spinach and swiss chard, and sweet potatoes.”
Impaired vision
That old saying about carrots being good for your eyes actually has some truth to it. Carrots are rich in vitamin A, and if you don’t get enough of it in your diet, your vision can be impaired and it may manifest itself as night blindness or worse.
Vitamin A deficiency can also cause dryness of the eyes, corneal ulcers, and retinal damage, which is whsat causes blindness. Vitamin A is found in yellow and orange-hued vegetables as well as dark leafy greens, so making sure you get enough of these veggies in your diet is crucial when it comes to protecting your eyes
Weight related issues.
Vegetables can provide a lot of volume for little calories. They’re also an excellent source of fiber, which helps fill you up without filling you out. It’s common knowledge among health experts that a diet rich in produce, especially non-starchy vegetables, is essential for those who want to lose or maintain weight.
Individuals who don’t eat many veggies are likely displacing those veggies with higher fat and/or sugar foods, which are higher in calories and therefore can make it difficult for them to lose weight.