Want to lose weight for your upcoming holiday? Have you or anyone around you has been diagnosed with heart disease or type 2 diabetes? Are you trying to follow a more plant based diet but not sure where to start? Hope this blog post will help you.
My goal is to talk about some of the best foods our planet has to offer by highlighting nutritional details and fun facts your probably didn't know. And if I manage to get these onto your dinner plate, that's an absolute joy for me. Please share if you cooked/created something with these superfoods.
First of all what is a 'superfood'? Official definition is the following: a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being.
So let's group these foods.
Vegetables:
Fresh or frozen? Does not matter. Eat them! Science has shown that people who eat than 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day have roughly a 20% lower risk of heart disease or stroke- with an even greater reduction in risk at more than 8 servings a day. Dark leafy greens and brightly coloured vegetables in red, yellow, and orange are particularly beneficial.
A lot of people ask from me which vegetables are rich in protein- as they do not eat meat.
Asparagus:
Today China is the world's largest producer. Choose long spears with closed, compact tips. Asparagus is available in different thickness and colour (green, purple, white). Steaming is the simplest preparation. Yes, your urine will smell but for the amount of benefits that this veggie gives you it's worth to put up with it!
Gives you:
Protein | Vitamin K | Vitamin E | Folate | Vitamin C | Tryptophan | Riboflavin | Dietary Fiber | Phytonutrients
4 spears give you enough Vitamin K to meet your daily needs, which is important in blood clotting and bone health. Also excellent source of glutathione, one of the body's best cancer fighters.
Bok Choy
Means 'white vegetable' in Cantonese. It has been cultivated in China, for more than 6,000 years and is associated primarily with Asian cuisine.
Gives you:
Protein | Vitamin C | Vitamin K | Folate | Calcium | Iron | Phytonutrients
It can help prevent heart disease, strokes and some cancers.
Spinach
Spinach is a nutritional powerhouse.
Rich in Vitamins A C and K as well as minerals such as Iron, Magnesium and Calcium. 100 grams of raw spinach has 23 kcal.
Gives you:
Vitamin K | Manganese | Folate | Magnesium | Iron | Vitamin C | Riboflavin | Calcium | Potassium | Pyridoxine | Tryptophan | Vitamin E | Dietary Fiber | Protein
Beet
Select beets with firm roots, green leaves and no cracks. Beets may be grated and served raw, pickled, or cooked by boiling or steaming.
Beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable but only 43 calories per 100grams. The roots contain folate, antioxidants as well as glycine betaine, phytonutrient that helps to reduce blood homocysteine, a risk factor for heart disease. Beet greens contain almost nine times the recommended daily value of Vitamin K, critical for bone health, as well as Vitamin A.
Gives you:
Folate | Manganese | Dietary fiber | Potassium | Calcium | Vitamin K | Vitamin C | Riboflavin | Phytonutrients
Broccoli
It ranks as one of the top 20 foods on the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, which scores foods based on the ratio of a food's nutrients to its calories. Studies showed that people who eat an abundance of broccoli had a reduced incidence of bladder and prostate cancer.
Gives you:
Vitamin C | Vitamin K | Folate | Manganese | Dietary fiber | Potassium | Riboflavin | Calcium | Phosphorus | Thiamine | Pyridoxin
In my next blog I will continue talking about superfoods expanding further the categories.