Today's Topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I'm going to be looking at five reasons why eating leafy greens can be really helpful for you in perimenopause and menopause.
Leafy greens are great. They are a really cheap and cheerful range of superfoods. The problem is, when I say, "Add leafy greens into your diet. Eat your leafy greens," everybody kind of goes "Eww, it's not very exciting."
So, I thought today I would go through why they can be really beneficial, and some simple ways that you can add them to your diet without too much fuss.
What are leafy greens?
Leafy greens are absolutely packed with health benefits and can support your nutritional needs, which are absolutely great during perimenopause and menopause.
They can be eaten in lots and lots of different ways, which I will go into. So, leafy greens are a type of plant where there are leaves and stems that are eaten raw in salads, or you can cook them in all sorts of different dishes, and add them to different dishes.
These leafy greens would include things like watercress, Swiss chard, rocket, spinach, bok choy, leafy green cabbages, microgreens, and also, sprouted seeds, which you can grow you own by using bioSnacky seeds, including alfalfa, mung beans and little radish sprouting seeds..
When it comes to leafy greens, there's a huge range of different ones, and adding them together, mixing them up in a plateful, will give you an absolutely fantastic range of vitamins and minerals that are all going to help to support your body through perimenopause and menopause.
Health benefits of leafy greens for perimenopause and menopause
Here are 5 of the top reasons why I recommend that you should eat more leafy greens, especially in perimenopause and menopause:
1. They are packed with nutrients
A few weeks ago, my friend and colleague, Ali (A.Vogel's Nutritional Practitioner), and I explained that your nutritional needs increase during menopause, and you need to eat more nutritionally dense foods; so, this is one of the reasons I'm looking at leafy greens in more detail today.
They're also cheap and cheerful, so if you're on a budget, you can either buy packets of these separately or you can buy them already made up as a salad bag. If you are busy or if you don't have time to do a lot of really good cooking during the week maybe if you're working, then buying a few packets of these salad greens at the supermarket can really save you a lot of time, and it's absolutely worth it at the end of the day.
The darker the leaves, the healthier and more nutritious they are, because these deep, rich colours are very high in nutrients called antioxidants.
They are very rich in things like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, folate, and also fibre, which is really important during menopause.
2. They are a good source of magnesium
Most of the dark green leafy veggies contain lovely amounts of magnesium, and for those of you that follow me, you know how important magnesium is for many reasons in menopause, and that I recommend this essential mineral often. So again, this is one nice, easy way of getting magnesium into your daily diet without an awful lot of effort going into it.
3. They can help aid digestion
These are full of fibre, and we know that for a lot of women, as you go through perimenopause and menopause, digestion can slow down. You can get bloated. You can get constipated. You can get a lot of general digestive discomfort. And these greens are absolutely fabulous for avoiding that.
I know, for myself, I try to have a third to half a packet of these greens on a daily basis as part of my daily diet. And I find if I end up missing these just for a couple of days, it makes a huge impact on my digestion, so I really do try and make sure I add them in on a daily basis.
4. They can help support cognitive health
These dark green leafy vegs are also known to support cognitive health and brain health. They have things in them like vitamin K, lutein (lutein is also really good for eyesight so you're getting extra benefits there), folate, and beta-carotene.
Research shows that these types of nutrients help to slow cognitive decline, and we know, in perimenopause and menopause, that foggy brain and forgetfulness are very common symptoms.
5. They are good for your mood
They also contain nutrients that are good for your mood, which can be impacted during perimenopause and menopause. They can help to give your mood a boost, because they are rich in folate, which contains mood-enhancing compounds that help to produce things like dopamine and also serotonin.
Simple ways to get more leafy greens into your diet
So, now you know the 'why', let's take a look at the 'how' to eat more leafy greens. Here are a few ways I incorporate more leafy greens into my diet:
My personal preference is to have a side salad for my lunch and also for my evening meal. If I'm cooking an omelette in the morning, then I'll put things like spinach into the omelette.
You can put them in sandwiches and, especially sprouting seeds, they are fabulous in sandwiches and in things like chicken wraps or vegetable wraps if you are having a quick snack at lunchtime.
You could look at smoothies - this can be really good, especially for those of you that can't face breakfast. You need something to help you along the way in the morning, and adding a combination of all of these, maybe with a little bit of apple juice or pineapple juice, can make a really good, nutrient-dense start to your day.
You can also look at smoothies on our A.Vogel Food Hub – there are loads of lovely recipes there.
You can also have green powders. I'm not particularly keen on them. They're good in an emergency, but fresh is always better.
One thing to watch here when you're adding loads of these greens to your diet is what you put on them. I'll admit myself, eating a plate of greens without the salad dressing is really not very exciting; but a lot of the commercial salad dressings that you buy, however wonderful they may look, will contain, possibly, not the best kind of oil. They will probably contain a lot of sugar to make them taste nice. They will probably contain a lot of salt, and they may also contain some preservatives.
So, I just make my own. It's really easy, so go online, and look for different recipes.
For my homemade dressing, I mix together extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little pinch of A.Vogel's Herbamare Salt, and then I will either add whole grain mustard and maybe just a tiny little amount of honey, or else I will add in a good, big teaspoon of green pesto just to give it that little bit of Italian style. You can really experiment with making tasty dressings that will make it much easier for you to eat your greens.
I hope this has been useful. I know I really do get the benefit from these greens on a regular basis. If any of you have any other tips, or any really nice salad dressings, I would love them. And if any of you have any other really good tips, I so look forward to seeing them.
And until then, I'll see you next time for another edition of A.Vogel Talks Menopause.
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