During Week Two of 40 Days of Yoga, I’ve been focusing on getting more vegetables in my diet. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as often as I can, I’m adding wilted, braised, steamed – you name it – dark leafy greens to my meal.
The conclusion that I’ve come to is all restaurants should have dark leafy greens as a side option on their menu. So often meals come with bread, chips, fries, crackers, etc. Would you like some carbs with your carbs? Not that I’m demonizing carbohydrates. I believe I’ve mentioned that they’re my favorite of the macronutrients… but I do think over consumption of carbs waters down both the enjoyment of and nourishment of the thing. So I think all restaurants need to serve greens – greens with your eggs in the morning, greens with your burrito at lunch, greens with your pasta or protein at dinner. You get the picture.
There are a handful of great restaurants doing this already, mostly Slow Food restaurants and, the greatest restaurant of all time, the one in your own home. But I don’t think I’ll settle any more for the super-carb side dish. Most places have something green on the menu, be it steamed broccoli or wilted spinach. Sub out the toast for some greens. Even if you’ve already had a cold salad. Dark leafy greens offer so much more – iron, calcium, protein, omega 3’s, vitamin A, B, C, and E, folic acid, not to mention the host of phytonutrients that help to prevent illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Can you think of any reason not to have greens?
Okay, if they’re army green and taste like grass, you don’t want to eat them. I think I’ll add a stipulation to my “all restaurants must serve greens” motion that they must be properly prepared and delicious.
Try this the next time you’re dining out. Your body will thank you.