Story at-a-glance

  • Low in calories, high in fiber, and with almost all the vitamins and minerals your body needs, vegetables are a nutritional cornerstone. Sprouting and fermenting are two ways to boost nutritional value even further
  • The fiber in vegetables is broken down into short chain fatty acids by gut bacteria, which then nourishes your gut and beneficial bacteria
  • Other health benefits include improved complexion, weight management, improved gut health, immune function, athletic performance, energy levels, and mental well-being


By Dr. Mercola

Low in calories, high in fiber, and with almost all the vitamins and minerals your body needs, vegetables are a nutritional cornerstone. While many think vegetables equate to a few leaves of lettuce and some tomatoes, there's a wide variety of veggies available, and you can use them in a number of different ways.

In addition to eating them raw in a salad, many can be lightly steamed or cooked, and you can boost your consumption by juicing them, or add them to stews and soups. Homegrown sprouts and fermented vegetables are other options that can significantly improve your diet.

Fermenting is one of the best ways to turn ordinary vegetables into superfoods. The culturing process produces beneficial microbes that are extremely important for health as they help balance your intestinal flora, thereby boosting overall immunity.

Fermented foods are also some of the best chelators and detox agents available, meaning they can help rid your body of a wide variety of toxins, including heavy metals.

Since most veggies aren't very calorie-dense, they should ideally constitute the bulk of your diet by volume. Tragically, very few actually get a healthy amount of veggies in their diet. As noted by Time magazine,1 vegetable consumption has actually declined over the past five years.

"About half of the total U.S. population eats less than 1.5 cups of vegetables a day. And a whopping 87 percent don't reach the recommended minimum goal of 2 to 3 cups a day."

More Reasons to Eat Vegetables

If you are in the majority who's skimping on veggies, you're really missing out on major health benefits, including the following:

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