1. Vegetables help with weight loss

Vegetables are the perfect food for weight loss. Most vegetables—particularly leafy green ones—are low in calories, and can be eaten in large quantities without adding up very high. Many diets allow you to eat unlimited green vegetables, and for good reason: they have so few calories and provide so much nutrition. Then there’s the fibre in vegetables, which makes you feel full more quickly. Even starchy plant foods—such as grains, legumes, sweet potatoes, corn, and winter squash—have their place in a weight-loss program. While they aren’t especially low in calories, they are high in fibre and nutrients, and can be very filling in small amounts.

2. Vegetables are rich in fibre

Fibre is the stuff in a plant that your body cannot digest. While fibre passes through your body undigested, is has many important functions. Soluble fibre mixes with water and food in the digestive tract to form a gooey gel that slows digestion and makes blood sugar enter the bloodstream more gradually. This gel also binds with fats and cholesterol, making it beneficial for the heart. Insoluble fibre is what gives you that feeling of fullness, helps with weight loss, and prevents constipation. It cleans the digestive tract as it passes through, which doctors believe may help prevent gastrointestinal diseases such as diverticulosis and colon cancer. Cauliflower, green beans, and potatoes are rich in the fibre you need.

3. Vegetables provide great fuel

Your body needs a wide range of nutrients for health, but it only needs one for energy: glucose. Your body digests most foods into glucose, including fats and protein, but the best source of fuel for your body is carbohydrates found in vegetables. These “good” carbs are usually complex, breaking down gradually before they can be available to the cells for fuel. Grains, beans and starchy vegetables such as corn, peas, winter squash and potatoes are good sources of complex carbohydrates.

4. Vegetables provide quality protein

Although the proteins supplied by vegetables and other plant foods are considered “incomplete” when compared to animal sources, they find each other in the body, hook up, and form complete proteins that are equal in quality to protein from meat. A diet that includes a wide variety of vegetables, grains, and beans supplies the nine essential amino acids necessary to stock the pool. That’s why a vegetarian diet can provide all the protein a person needs.