By: Judy Davie - The Food Coach
 Your Gut is the Starting Point
Think of your gut as the control centre for inflammation. When it's happy and healthy, it helps keep the rest of your body calm. When it's out of balance, it can send out alarm signals that trigger inflammation everywhere.
Vegetables are full of fibre and special plant compounds called prebiotics, which act like fertiliser for the good bacteria in your gut.
When these good bugs are well-fed, they produce substances that:
Heal and protect the lining of your gut, preventing harmful toxins from escaping into your bloodstream.
Calm down your immune system, reducing inflammation throughout your body.
Keep your digestive system running smoothly.
Some veggies are especially good at this, like onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, and artichokes.
2. Crowding Out the Bad Stuff
When you fill up your plate with vegetables, there's naturally less room for highly processed foods - things like biscuits, chips, takeaway burgers, and soft drinks. These foods tend to increase inflammation because they're often high in sugar, unhealthy fats, and additives.
By simply eating more veggies, you're making space for nourishing foods and pushing out the inflammatory ones. It's a simple swap with powerful benefits.
3. Helping with Weight Loss
Carrying extra weight, especially around your belly, can itself drive inflammation. Fat tissue isn't just a place where your body stores energy - it actually releases chemicals that increase inflammation.
Vegetables are low in calories but high in volume and fibre, which means they fill you up without adding much energy to your diet.
Over time, this can help with weight loss, which lowers your body's inflammation levels even more. It's a win-win!
4. Plant Power: Antioxidants and Special Compounds
Veggies are packed with natural compounds - antioxidants, polyphenols, flavonoids - that protect your cells from damage and directly calm inflammation.
For example:
Broccoli and kale contain sulforaphane, a compound shown to lower inflammatory signals in the body.
Carrots and sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene, which helps protect your cells from oxidative stress.
Leafy greens like spinach and silverbeet are full of vitamins C and E, which are natural anti-inflammatories.
The more colourful your plate, the more variety of these compounds you'll get.
Simple Ways to Get More Veggies in Your Diet
Aim for variety: Eat lots of different colours - green, orange, red, purple.
Add veggies to breakfast: Think spinach in scrambled eggs or tomato and avocado on toast.
Double up your dinner: Swap half your pasta or rice for extra vegetables.
Snack smart: Keep cut-up carrots, capsicum, or cherry tomatoes ready to grab.
Try fermented vegetables like sauerkraut or kimchi to support gut health even more.
The Bottom Line
Chronic inflammation may sound scary, but the solution doesn't have to be complicated. By eating more vegetables every day, you're feeding your gut, reducing harmful processed foods, supporting a healthy weight, and flooding your body with protective plant compounds.
It's one of the simplest - and tastiest - ways to take control of your health. So next time you're at the shops, grab an extra bag of leafy greens, a few colourful veggies, and let your plate be your body's best defence against inflammation.
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