10 Powerhouse Vegetables Every Woman Should Eat

Top 10 vegetables

Recently one of my clients asked me, "What are the most important vegetables I need to include in my diet?" She happens to be a woman who hates most vegetables and really struggles to eat them. As she put it, "I know I need the nutrition from vegetables and would rather get them from food, not supplements, so I want to figure out ways to work the most important vegetables into my diet. Her question prompted me to research exactly which 10 vegetables I recommend she (and every woman over 45) eat regularly.

#1: Kale

#2: Spinach

#3: Swiss Chard

#4: Beets

#5: Carrots

#6: Sweet Potatoes

#7: Peas

#8: Tomatoes

#9: Broccoli

#10: Watercress

Watercress

I chose these 10 vegetables because they provide a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, they're rich in fiber and contain many important anti-oxidants, including lutein, zeaxanthin, and carotenoids. Watercress is actually the #1 most nutrient-dense food (based on this study), but I listed it #10 because the first question women ask me is, "How do you prepare watercress?" and, therefore, it's the least likely vegetable on the list to be eaten regularly. 

The next step was to figure out ways to incorporate these powerhouse vegetables into my client's diet. She's blending kale,spinach and shredded carrots into pasta sauce and adding carrot juice, beets, kale or spinach to her fruit smoothies for starters. Of course, these are not the only vegetables to eat regularly, but if you struggle to eat vegetables like this woman does, make these your top priority!