Is it possible to prevent diabetes by going green?  In other words, let us review if it is possible to reduce your chances of having to deal with diabetes, it symptoms and the required medications by eating dark green, leafy vegetables on a regular basis.

Some of the positive effects that dark green leafy vegetables; such as spinach, collard greens and kale are that these types of vegetables have a large amount of magnesium and Vitamin C.

In a very limited study, it was found that people who consumed about 100 grams of these veggies (approximately one and a half more than the recommended daily dose) showed a significant reduction (almost 15%) in the risk of getting diabetes.  I would say that this is a huge drop in avoiding this disease, by just adding some more greens to your daily diet.

I understand that some of these leafy green vegetables may have a bitter taste or that some people don’t know how to properly prepare them; so it seems easier to just avoid them.

Perhaps we can offer you some new ways to prepare these greens and get more of this wonder food into your body on a daily basis.

If you love spinach, great!  Add it to sandwiches, salads and anything else you can think of.  Scrambled eggs with fresh spinach and feta cheese are a standard breakfast in our home.  Easy, healthy and tasty – what more can you ask for in a meal?

If you are not a fan, puree a bunch of spinach and add it to your tomato sauce.  You will never see or taste it, but you will surely reap the positive health benefits.

Kale is a sturdy green leafy vegetable and stands up very well in all types of soups.  My personal favorite way to prepare kale is to wash and cut it into bite size pieces, season to taste (preferable spices without salt) and bake at a low temperature in the oven until crisp.  This will make a great snack and replace store bought, unhealthy potato chips. You will be eating a whole bunch of kale before you realize it.  Experiment with herbs and spices that suit your taste buds.

An internet search will provide you with tons of recipes for collard greens; but a quick and easy use for these hearty, large greens is to use them a sandwich wrap (instead of a standard carbohydrate laden tortilla).

Dark, leafy green vegetables have been referred to as a “super food”.  The benefits are huge and with a little creatively, you can easily fit more than the recommended amount into your families and your own personal daily meals.

It is too early to tell if you can prevent diabetes solely by going green; but it has been proven to help keep blood sugar stable without any of the negative side effects.