Make 2011 your year of healthy eating
There’s no time like the present to make a change. One easy but life affirming way to make a real difference is to eat more healthily. Why not make 2011 your year to cleanse and regenerate your body? With hundreds of delicious salad recipes available, all packed full with essential vitamins and nutrients, it’s a lot easier to eat healthily than you might think.
With over 50 different types of salad leaves available you can add flavour without fuss to any dish. Try rocket mixed into your favourite pasta for example, watercress sprinkled on top of a margarita or add extra interest to a stir fry with spinach – the list is endless. However, if you lack imagination when it comes to salad recipes then look no further, we have an array of creative culinary suggestions, from the indulgent warm duck and orange salad to the cleansing detox vegetable salad with mango and chilli – there is something for everyone and for every season of the year.
Eating salads is good for you in so many ways. For example, a recent study of 220,000 people conducted by the University of Leicester found eating one and a half extra servings of leafy vegetables daily cuts the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 14%. Researchers say the key is in the high levels of magnesium found in the likes of spinach and lettuce which are essential to the body. Evidence suggests a deficiency of magnesium may even cause the disease. Separate studies have also shown that chocolate cravings decline and PMS symptoms improve with an increase of magnesium in the diet. So again by eating leafy green veg such as lettuce or spinach, you really could help yourself to resist the temptation of chocolate and keep to your new healthy eating regime.
The UK climate is perfectly suited to growing salad leaves, which flourish in an even temperature, cooled by costal breezes. There are around 14,000 acres of salad farms, stretching across the vale of Evesham, the South Coast, East Anglia, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, the West Midlands and Hampshire. The majority of salads are grown outdoors, where the sun helps to produce the all important antioxidants and vitamins, which are needed by the body to mop up harmful, free radicals. The darker the leaves, the higher the level of antioxidants will be. So get creative and experiment with your salad leaves!