Guest Post . . . and Friday Shares

Happy Friday!  While I am working on some other projects . . . see below . . . I thought today would be a great day to share from Guest Blogger Shelly who seems to like eating greens just about as much as I do!  (For example if you follow me on Instagram you saw a really green, beautiful broccolini side at last night's dinner!)This is a guest post by freelance health blogger Shelly Stinson, who lives in Denver and loves spreading the word about the benefits of eating green.BENEFITS OF EATING GREENSEating more green health foods—like lettuce, kale, spinach, and broccoli—has been a recommendation by health experts as a way for us to drop those last 10 (or first 50) pounds, feel better physically (hello energy, and goodbye aches and pains), and overall just get healthier.But have you ever wondered what exactly makes this color veggie so superior when compared to vegetables in other hues? In other words, what are the benefits we can expect when we turn our shopping carts, refrigerators, and thus our bodies more green?As a green-eater myself, I can tell you that I’ve found that eating more greens has provided me with a long list of advantages. While it’s not possible to mention them all without this post going on for pages and pages, here are some of the most notable ones…Higher Energy LevelsDo you feel like you’re always tired and want more energy? Well, eating greens is one way to get it!  The pigment in healthy green foods, also known as chlorophyll, helps improve circulation. It also offers other blood-based benefits such as increased production of blood cells, better oxygenation, and it even helps detoxify the blood. Okay, but what does all of this mean in layman’s terms?Basically, when you eat green, you help your circulatory system function at a higher level. This means that you’ll feel better and have more energy because your cells are getting the nutrients they need at a cellular level, providing a good foundation for greater health.  You also notice that your energy skyrockets thanks to the vitamin and mineral punch you get from eating nutritious green foods. With the calcium, potassium, iron, vitamins A, B, and C that a large number of them contain, it’s like taking a super-powered multivitamin every time you eat them!Fewer Infections and DiseasesDoes it seem like you always catch the latest bug? And does this make you dread cold and flu season because you just know that you’re going to get sick?  Well, eating green leafy vegetables has been linked to having a stronger immune system, which can help keep you off the couch and away from the sniffles. Specifically, they make your intestines healthier by shielding them from unhealthy bacteria, they help you prevent and fight infections, and they even stop some inflammatory diseases and intestinal cancers from taking hold.In fact, one woman found that juicing her greens helped take away brown spots on her skin (a skin condition called melasma) after just a few months’ time. In this way, eating greens helps you deal with medical ailments that could be negatively impacting your life, but it does it in a completely natural way.Better Brain PowerResearchers at Rush University Medical Center have found that eating green can help protect your brain from cognitive decline as you age. In this study, 950 older people were followed and researchers discovered that those who ate the most leafy greens had better brain power at the end of five years’ time.   It’s possible that the vitamin K in green foods is the reason behind helping keep the brain intact. That makes eating these foods extremely important if you’re concerned about dementia-related conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, as you get older.Improved SightWhen you get older, in addition to worrying about keeping all of your mental faculties, eyesight can become an issue. That’s why it’s important to protect it because once it’s gone, it can be really hard to get back.  Fortunately, another study, this one conducted by Harvard Medical School, found that people who eat more leafy greens tend to have lower incidences of glaucoma—by as much as 20 to 30 percent. They learned this after following over 100,000 people for 30 years, which is a pretty long time!With glaucoma being “one of the leading causes of blindness globally,” eating leafy greens seems to be an easy way to help reduce the odds that you’ll develop it. It sure beats going to the doctor and taking prescription medications that may or may not be good for you in the long run, don’t you think?All in all, eating green provides a lot of benefits ranging from more energy to lower disease to more brain power and even better sight. Now that you understand this, it’s time to create a diet in this particular hue. Go green and experience these advantages firsthand!Follow Shelly on Twitter: @shellystins.**********************************************************Coming up here on the blog:May 1 Begins the New Refresh & Reboot Program!  Let me know if you are interested or have questions!  This time around it will be a 4 WEEK PROGRAM with daily motivation, workouts, recipes, a Private Facebook Page for more interaction and more.A Look at InflammationMy Recent ReadsAnd a couple of shares for the weekend:A friend sent me a look at the new bathroom signs:And I couldn't leave without some thoughts from such a gifted artist:Rest in PeaceEnjoy Your Weekend!