Choosing the Most Nutritious Greens
Greens in the order of most nutritious:
- Dandelion: use young leaves.
- Arugula: Slight mustard green flavor.
- Kale: Use young leaves.
- Parsley: Helps bring out the flavor of others.
- Romaine: Somewhat strong taste.
- Spinach: High in nutrients but contains oxalates.
- Beet: Best if you use young and small leaves.
- Butter: Lettuce
- Endive: Contains oxalates. May affect calcium absorption.
- Iceberg: Most popular lettuce, least nutritious.
The top ten fruits and vegetables in overall nutritional content:
- Broccoli - Broccoli is a vegetable very much like spinach. Broccoli is the superhero of the vegetable kingdom!
- Cantaloupe - The orange color of cantaloupe's flesh relfects its extremely high beta-carotene content, which converts to vitamin A in the body.
- Carrots - Carrots are nutritional heroes, they store a gold mine of nutrients.
- Kale - Unusually rich in the minerals and vitamins provided by green leafy foods.
- Mango - Cholesterol free. High in vitamin A and vitamin C.
- Papaya - Papaya contains the digestive enzyme papain, which helps your body break down and digest proteins.
- Pumpkin - The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene.
- Red bell Peppers - Peppers are full of vitamins C and A, as well as folate. They are also high in fiber.
- Spinach - This lovely, leafy green is not only flavorful, it is a nutritional power house.
- Sweet Potato - The sweet potato deserves to be on the highest perch because it is a nutritional powerhouse supplying many nutrients.
See also:
Selecting and Storing Greens
Prep, Cook and Dress Up Greens
Washing Spinach and Greens
Lettuce!
