Daily photo - 2: Health benefits of courgettes

Home-made courgette loaf - my favourite!

I have had an allotment for three years and one vegetable I have grown each year has been courgettes (zucchini to Americans). They are easy to grow, and are good for you. This courgette loaf is one of the products of my efforts, and its quite delicious. I took the recipe from the BBC Good Food website, which has lots of other recipes using courgettes.

As it happens, the plants have been sprouting two or three courgettes a week, so I have needed to find lots of recipes. As well as the loaf, I have done courgette gratin, soup, crudités, fritters, and the fun bit - courgetti, as a low carb alternative to spaghetti.

According to Healthline, benefits of courgettes include:

• Rich in nutrients including Vitamin A and Vitamin C
• Contains antioxidants, which neutralise free radicals that damage skin and cause some cancers
• High fibre so improves digestion and helps lower "bad" LDL cholesterol 
• Low in carbohydrates and helps reduce blood sugar levels
• High water and fibre content which can reduce feelings of hunger and help with weight loss  

So, through circumstance courgettes have become a staple in my diet, and I have to say I feel healthier for it.
As someone who does quite a lot of cycling and other sports it is easy to assume that I am healthy, but despite this we are still not immune to problems like diabetes or ageing skin - especially now that I am 50! So anything extra that slows the decline is always a good thing.


Related posts
The Good Life

Harvest Festival