Why all this fuss about greens? Who cares? Why are they different to any other vegetable?
Green fruits and vegetables are rich in health promoting phytochemicals such as lutein and folate. Green foods can support most bodily functions and eliminate toxins such as heavy metals, which can weaken our tissues and lead to disease over time. Add arugula, avocado, kale, broccoli, kiwi, spinach, and Swiss chard to your diet to boost your energy level.
1. Mineral salts naturally occurring in greens help neutralize and expel waste in our bodies.
2. Greens are a good source of natural fibre, helping to keep colon healthy
3. Greens provide important nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and other minerals not found in fruits, nuts and seeds (unless you eat the white pith or seeds of oranges or figs, blended for digestion)
4. Greens are a rich source of vitamins A, B complex, D and E
5. Greens (especially sunflower greens – which are delicious) are a wonderful source of lecithin, which helps break fatty acids down into a digestible form
6. Greens are full of chlorophyll and carotenoids (components of vitamin A), which benefits the blood, tissues, and inflammation, supports our immune system, our vision, and protects against coronary disease, and tumours
7. Greens are our best sources of folates and folic acid (a B vitamin), which are important for cell growth and reproduction
8. Greens like spinach, parsley, kale, and mustard greens, are extremely high in vitamin C.
9. Unlike fruits and fats, leafy greens have never been accused of causing acidity in the body.
Hat Tip: Thanks to Raw Divas for this information.
Very informative Susan! Tell me, though, what are Sunflower greens, mustard greens and Kale? I haven’t heard of these before… 🙂
Hi ladies,
Nah, I’m not the fount of all knowledge…but google is my best friend lol.
Sunflower greens = sunflower seeds and they are almost 25% protein. The greens are simply the sprouts from the sunflower seeds.
Mustard greens are the leaves of the mustard plant, Brassica juncea.
Kale is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the Brassica family, a group of vegetables including cabbage, collards and Brussels sprouts.
Collard greens: While collard greens share the same botanical name as kale they have their own distinctive qualities. Like kale, collards are one of the non-head forming members of the Brassica family along with broccoli and cauliflower. The dark blue-green leaves that are smooth in texture and relatively broad distinguish them from the frilly edged leaves of kale.
And I like The Word’s Healthiest Foods: http://whfoods.org/ to find this info out.
However, I find these hard to source so we just go for baby spinach…cos lettuce, etc. John quite likes the GS made from Cos Lettuce. He is feeling so much better this past week.
I’m sure chocolate’s got all that stuff 😛 😉 😀
LOL, sure of it 😉
🙂 Ah, you gals crack me up!