It’s easy to focus on “no-no nutrition” — that long list of things you’re supposed to avoid in your daily diet. But it’s much more pleasurable to consider the “yes” parts of your plate, the foods just waiting for you to discover and savour them.

Front and centre should be vegetables, since consuming more of them can be the easiest way to improve the quality of what you’re eating.

For many of us, though, veggies are not a first-choice food. “Americans are falling seriously short on their vegetable intake,” said registered dietitian nutritionist Sharon Palmer. “Yet if there’s one food you should consume more of, it’s vegetables.” It’s estimated that some 90% of Americansfall short of the goal to eat about two and a half cups of vegetables per day.

Palmer offered several strong reasons to bolster your veggie intake. “Most experts agree that nature’s myriad vegetables are linked with multiple health benefits, such as lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and heart disease,” she said. “These wonder foods are low in calories and fat, yet they’re rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds.”

If you want to give your body more of what it needs, pay attention to vegetables all day long, Palmer said.

“Many people don’t even get their first veggie until dinner time, and by then it’s too late to meet your needs,” she said. “That slice of tomato in your fast-food sandwich doesn’t count as a serving of veggies.”

Which vegetables have the biggest benefits? Start with anything green and leafy.

A top choice for many of the nutrition experts we spoke to was anything green and leafy. “Green leafy vegetables have a plethora of vitamins and minerals, as well as plant compounds,” Palmer said. “High intake is linked with multiple benefits, including eye and bone protection, digestion and gut microbiome boosting, healthy weight, cancer protection and brain and heart health.”

Registered dietitian Jerlyn Jones offered similar advice, citing spinach, collard greens, kale, bok choy and Swiss chard as some of........

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