Now, don’t get us wrong. We love all shapes and sizes at Deliciously Gorgeous, and we firmly believe you get beach body ready by putting your cozzie on and getting sandy. However, we also know that lots of people like to change things up diet wise come the summer!
If winter is for comfort food, then summer is for fresh and crunchy food! And lovely fresh juices too, so we thought we’d share a few of our favourite veggies that you can pack in a salad or pop in the juicer! Yum!
Lettuce:
Lettuce is packed with goodness. It’s a good source of vitamin K for strong bones and four big leaves is one of your 5 a day.
Sweetcorn:
Sweetcorn is yellow due to the carotenoid that helps to reduce the risk of age- related eye degeneration. Sweetcorn also contains folate, which as well as being good for healthy blood is important for pregnant women!
Three tablespoons of sweetcorn count as one of your five-a-day.
Tomatoes:
All varieties of tomatoes are packed with lycopene, an antioxidant. Studies have shown that lycopene may help to protect against prostate cancer and heart disease.
One medium size tomato or seven cherry tomatoes count as one of your five-a-day.
Edamame Beans:
Edamame are young soya beans and a good source of high quality protein which has been shown to help reduce blood cholesterol. Countries that traditionally eat more soya have a lower risk of certain cancers. Great for vegetarians!
80g of edamame can count as one of your five-a-day.
Avocado:
This is a great fruit that too often gets banned from salad due its calorie count. Don’t count them – they are full of good fats your body loves as well as heart-healthy nutrients like vitamin E, folate and potassium.
It also has strong antioxidant properties and a diet rich in it has been linked with a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke. It has also been suggested that avocados can help the body absorb even more nutrients from salad vegetables!
Half a medium avocado is one of your 5 a day.
There’s your 5 a day for a salad already, and we haven’t even mentioned all the other lovely things you can nibble on that are just as great for you (and your waistline) like carrots, sugar snap peas, beetroot…mmm, where’s that salad bowl!