What You Should Know About Dark Leafy Greens.
What is a leafy vegetable?
Leafy greens are leaves from plants that we eat. Dark leafy greens are a great way to add lots of color, fiber and Vitamin C to your diet. They are the best foods you can eat to help fight off
1. heart disease.
2. diabetes.
3. cancer.
4. and so forth.
Types of Leafy Greens for Fiber.
1. Collards.
2. Turnups.
3. Spinach.
4. Kale.
5. Cabbage.
As a youngster, I ate leafy greens such as Kale and Spinach, which were steamed and served very plain. I like the mild flavors of both Kale and Spinach but did not care for Collards as much. When we moved to the South, all that changed. I did what most locals would do and mixed the Collards with my Spinach, Green Beans and Broccoli. When we moved to the south, I did not have as much kale in my diet. To this day, I’m not sure if it was hard to find or not in production. in terms of dark leafy greens, Kale is as good as it gets. Why? As it turns out, Kale and Collards are much more nutrient dense than the other “greens”. They both have an ANDI score of 1000. That score just happens to be at the top of the scale.
Dr. Fuhrman created the “ANDI score”, which tells us how good a food value is in terms of:
1. Vitamins.
2. Antioxidants.
3. and much more.
That value is divided by the calorie content to get an ANDI score. It is sort of like knowing that blueberries are good for you but know exactly how good they are based on a scale of 1 to 1000. The higher the score, the better the food is for you.
Dark Leafy Greens Health Benefits.
A close look at Kale, Collard greens and Spinach:
I. The health benefits of Kale.
1. high in fiber.
2. rich in iron.
3. excellent source of Vitamin A.
a. helps with your vision.
b. helps fight cancer.
4. excellent source of Vitamin C.
a. helps boost your immune system.
b. helps boost your metabolism.
5. excellent source of Vitamin K.
a. helps prevent blood clotting.
b. helps with alzheimer disease.
6. aids digestion.
7. loaded with antioxidants.
8. high in anti-inflammatory nutrients.
a. helps fight athritis.
b. helps fight asthma.
9. 1/2 cup chopped cooked Kale = 4 g of carbs.
10. low in calories.
Studies have shown Kale to have compounds that help fight off cancer.
II. The health benefits of Collard Greens.
1. helps prevent the following cancer types:
a. bladder cancer.
b. breast cancer.
c. colon cancer.
d. lung cancer.
e. prostate cancer.
f. ovarian cancer.
2. excellent source of Vitamin A.
3. rich in Vitamin C.
a. proven to fight flu-like viruses.
b. protects free radical damage.
4. good source of Vitamin K.
a. helps fight Alzheimer’s disease.
5. rich in Vitamin B3, B5, and B6.
III. The health benefits of Spinach.
1. excellent source of Vitamin K.
2. helps build stronger bones.
3. high in antioxidants.
4. helps reduce high blood pressure.
5. 1/2 cup of cooked spinach = 3.5 g of carbs.
Whole Foods Market has some great dark green leafy vegetables recipes. Eat more dark greens to live a longer healthy life!