| SolveYourProblem
Article Series: Health Living & Weight Loss
Live Healthy. Eat Healthy. Be Healthy.
What
Are The Top 5 Healthiest Dark Green Vegetables?
Remember when your parents used to load your
plate up with veggies and not let you have any dessert until
you finished every last bit? They just might have been onto
something with all those dark green vegetables.
Take a look at Popeye and his spinach. He would down a can
and practically lift a car. Impressive wasn't it? Maybe the
general idea isn't so far fetched.
Five
of the healthiest dark green vegetables include broccoli,
kale, spinach, romaine lettuce and Swiss chard. These vegetables,
identified by their dark green color, are rich in antioxidants
and usually have large amounts of phytochemicals like Vitamin
C.
If you've turned on the television in the past three years,
antioxidants have been all over the news. They've been proven
to help reduce the risk of cancer and strengthen the immune
system.
Many foods tend to lose nutrients when cooked. The great thing
about these dark green vegetables is that you can find them
easily in your grocery store and they taste great with little
or no cooking, leaving much of their nutrients intact.
Here is some important information about these healthy veggies:
Broccoli is a fun vegetable for kids because it feels like
you're eating a small tree. In fact, the little buds are actually
tiny flourettes that contain more than twice the amount of
Vitamin C of an orange.
Some facts about broccoli you may not already know include:
- Broccoli
is a great source of fiber, both soluble and insoluble.
It not only meets both types of fiber needs, but it's also
a rich source to add to your diet.
- Research
has shown indole-3-carbinol - found in the phytonutrients
of broccoli - actually deactivates a metabolite which can
become cancerous.
- Broccoli
also helps restore sun-damaged skin, reduces the risk of
heart disease, and boosts the immune system. At the
same time, it also promotes healthy bone growth due to
its massive amounts of calcium.
Kale is a slightly bitter, leafy green with a huge amount
of folic acid and potassium. Try some kale in your stir-fry.
You may just find yourself thoroughly impressed.
- The
folic acid found in kale is a great addition to your diet
if you suffer from poor hair, skin and nails.
- In
addition, the potassium helps to promote the breakdown
of lactic acid in muscles after a workout, and is a great
food
to help prevent muscle soreness in the recovery process.
Swiss chard is similar to spinach, with a little more of an
earthy undertone. Rich in Vitamins C and K, as well as calcium,
Swiss chard is a great addition to salads.
- Vitamin
K helps promote healthy eye and brain function. The next
time you have to spend hours staring at a computer
screen or studying for that big exam, try some Swiss chard
and let your mind be at ease knowing your brain is getting
the nutrients it needs.
Spinach
is a lean mean green antioxidant-packing machine, rich in
flavor and in Vitamins A and C, and iron.
- Spinach
is loaded with important vitamins and minerals to promote
healthy brain function as well as strong bones and
muscles.
- Next
time you have a salad, try it with spinach instead of lettuce
for a little variety and a big explosion
of
taste.
Lettuce may be the last thing that comes to mind when you
picture dark green vegetables. While many of the lighter shades
of lettuce, such as iceberg, have very little nutritional value,
the darker the color, the more they have to hide.
Romaine lettuce, while still made up mostly of water, is packed
with antioxidants and fiber.
The darker green the leaf, the more folic acid is present,
which prevents heart disease.
Even though lettuce seems so simple, look at some of its complex
attributes:
- Lettuce
is great for diets since it's very low in calories.
- Magnesium,
found in romaine lettuce, does wonders in revitalizing
muscular tissues, the brain and the
nerves.
- The
chlorophyll-packed juice in lettuce is very helpful in
maintaining normal hair color.
- Lettuce
is high in iron, which helps the formation of red blood
cells.
- Lettuce
may help in treating insomnia, acid indigestion, colitis,
constipation, gout, stress and many other diseases
as well.
While you might have been forced to eat your dark green veggies
as a kid, now you know why it was so important. Even today,
your dark greens are vital to your health and well-being. Try
these dark greens in some new recipes; you just might surprise
yourself and actually enjoy it!
# # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2009
> Home > Weight
Loss:
Main Page
|
