To most of us growing up, eating our greens meant pleasing Mom by finishing our salad, broccoli, spinach, and other green leafy vegetables when we ate our dinner. Little did we know back then that Mom actually knew a thing or two about a proper diet. Today, eating the right types of foods, in the right amounts, can help us maintain a healthy lifestyle and can actually help us "tune up" our bodies.

In today's health-conscience world, practically everyone has heard of the benefits of a natural fiber-rich, vegetable-packed diet. From maintaining the digestive tract with natural enzymes to benefiting the body's organs with nutrients, a vegetable-rich diet is a smart way to start looking better, feeling better and living better.

So, if we know how important it is to our health that we consume the proper number of servings of vegetables and fruits per day, why do so many of us not get the nutrients we need to promote a healthy lifestyle?
Simply stated, snack foods, fast foods, processed meals and other conveniences have made it very easy to stray from a proper diet. Add to these circumstances, the natural cravings for fats and sweets many of us share and this leads to a poor diet and possible associated health risks.