Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Green Leafy Vegetables


I have been reading David Wolfe's book on raw food, The Sunfood Diet Success System. As a Whole Health Educator I am always fascinated by different approaches to nutrition. As someone new to raw foods I am particularly interested in well-known books on this topic. David's book is a combination of science, spirituality and common sense.

In the early part of the book David stresses the importance of green leafy veggies. I am a big proponent of green leafy veggies and often work with clients to incorporate more of them into the person's diet. I thought I would take a moment to extol some of the benefits of these wonder foods in the hopes that you too, if you aren't already, be turned on by their magic.

First: what qualifies as a leafy green vegetable? Lettuce (especially dark red leaves), kale, collards, chard, spinach and surprisingly, cilantro, parsley and celery. We don't often think of the last three in that category.

Second: why green leafy vegetables? These vegetables contain chlorophyll - the pigment in plants wherein photosynthesis takes place. Eat kale and you are eating the energy from the sun - no intermediary. They also have loads of minerals and vitamins, such as iron, magnesium and calcium.

Green leafy vegetables help your body digest and eliminate food more easily, give you energy, help shed unwanted pounds and keep your body healthy and vital. Green leafy veggies are the diamonds of the vegetable world.

Try eating 5-7 servings a day. A serving is a1/2 cup raw and 1 cup cooked. Throw them in smoothies (I'll give a great smoothie recipe tomorrow), toss them together for a salad, roll them up in nori with some yummy filling (more on that to come) and you can even cook them up with some garlic and olive oil.

If you aren't used to these vegetables I recommend starting with the sweeter, more familiar varieties like spinach, lettuce and celery. As you body builds up its desire for the food and you build up your taste buds try the kale, collards and chard. Mmmm. I love them.

No comments:

Post a Comment