If you do one thing this week . . . eat more leafy greens

It’s easy to overlook the leafy greens – let’s face it, they aren’t always considered the most inviting of foodstuffs.

But they bring their rewards: packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, leafy green vegetables are high on any list of healthy foods.

And a new study published this month in the British Medical Journalmight increase their favour even further.

The paper, which analysed six studies with a combined population of 223,512 participants (mostly women), concluded that “increasing intake of green leafy vegetables is significantly associated with a reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes”. It also “supported the evidence that ‘foods’ rather than isolated components such as antioxidants are beneficial for health”.

There’s no need to suffer soggy or stringy fare – bump up the taste by steaming or sautéing, by including leafy vegetables in salad, soups and stir-fries and by chopping spinach into omelettes. It might be easy eating green after all.