Vegetables should make up a large portion of each meal, but which vegetable superfoods give you the most nutritional benefits? As you plan what to eat each day, you must balance servings from each food group to get the widest range of nutrition from the calories you consume.
Vegetables are packed with not only important nutrients such as vitamins and minerals but also compounds such as antioxidants that help fight body diseases.
Improve Your Health With These Seven Vegetable Superfoods
Vegetables assist in detoxification of the body and also aid to boost the immune system since they provide concentrated quantities of nutrients. Vegetables have low fat and calories, thus any type of diet based around them results to weight loss. Let’s have a look on how nutrients in vegetables can help you to improve your overall health:
Kale
Packed with vitamins and minerals (especially vitamin K, vitamin A and vitamin C), kale is a simple way to get all-around nutrition. You’ll also benefit from the carotenoids and flavonoids hiding in its curly leaves: at least 45 different antioxidants have been identified in kale, making it one of the leading vegetable superfoods.
Eat kale raw in place of other leafy greens, or lightly steam to bring out its cholesterol-balancing benefits. Juiced kale provides a powerful detox punch, too. Kale leaves can even be dried in the oven and sprinkled with sea salt for a tasty, crunchy snack, replacing less-healthy chips or crackers.
Broccoli
Broccoli, the cruciferous vegetable cousin of kale, is one of the best-studied superfoods easily available in the grocery store and farmers market. It’s been shown to help reduce chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and poor detoxification–all chronic conditions that typically lead to cancer and other health problems. Nutritional bonus: including vegetables high in vitamin A and vitamin K in your diet helps your body metabolize vitamin D much better, bringing combination benefits and better overall health.
Eat raw or lightly cooked (you want broccoli still crisp for best flavor and nutrition). Don’t discard the leaves and stems–they also contain high concentrations of nutrients and simply need a few extra minutes of cooking to be delicious.
Quinoa
Sometimes mistakenly called an ancient grain, quinoa is actually related to spinach and beets, making it another vegetable superfoods. It’s gluten-free, packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients, offers significant amounts of minerals, and contains valuable amounts of healthy fats. And, if you’re choosing to consume less animal protein, quinoa provides a complete protein source (unlike most grains).
You’ll usually find quinoa seeds in the grocery store, although the entire plant can be eaten. Ground quinoa is a fair substitute for flour in many recipes (but don’t forget, it does not contain gluten). Whole quinoa may be steamed like rice or barley to serve with savory meals, or it may be turned into porridge like oatmeal for a delicious breakfast.
Wheat Grass
Those amber waves of grain you see at harvest time should really be appreciated when they’re young and tender green. Wheat grass is, as the name suggests, the plant that eventually produces grain. It’s a vegetable superfood because it contains more carotenoids and flavonoids per gram than even spinach and kale, and provides beneficial levels of all the common vitamins and minerals.
Wheat grass powder is readily available in whole foods stores or from the internet, and it’s easy to sprinkle on juices, shakes, yogurt, salad… the list is endless. While juiced wheat grass is generally safe for those who are sensitive to wheat or wheat gluten, talk to a nutritionist to make sure it can fit into your daily diet.
Spinach
Nutrient-dense spinach has significant amounts of almost every important vitamin and mineral shown to improve your health. It’s especially high in manganese, folate and iron. If you’re concerned about bone health, know that spinach contains an amazing amount of vitamin K which has been shown to reduce bone-cell breakdown. Spinach is considered king of the leafy greens because it provides superior levels of carotenoids and flavonoids.
Blanch spinach in boiling water for one minute to release the acids that may make it taste bitter to some people. Or, enjoy a raw spinach salad topped with dried cranberries and superfood seeds.
Beets
What makes beets red? Phytonutrients called betalains. Red beets provide the highest concentrations of betalains, and yellow versions of this vegetable superfood also contain lutein, which plays an important role in eye health. Beets also contain significantly more fiber than many other vegetables, providing you with better colon health and improved digestion–which helps your body extract the most nutrition from all the foods you eat along with the beets.
To preserve their nutritional value, steam beets over (not in) boiling water for about fifteen minutes. For an interesting change of pace, grate raw beets and use as a soup or salad garnish.
Barley Grass
Chlorophyl has recently been shown to provide powerful detoxification benefits, and barley grass contains huge amounts of the phytochemical chlorophyl along with trace minerals and important vitamins. Cutting-edge research is also beginning to discover the health benefits of the organic sodium found in barley grass, which may help with joint health and digestive health.
Barley grass is typically sold in highly-concentrated powder form, which is then added to juices or other liquids. If you can find it fresh, juice barley grass yourself for the best nutritional profile.
Bottom line
As you plan your meals, include at least one or two servings of these seven vegetable superfoods each day. They’re an easy to get and one of the convenient way to get the biggest health benefits out of the calories you consume. Eat vegetables everyday and have a healthy life.
