#3 Powerfood: Spinach and Green Vegetables

I must admit I like spinach. Every day I have salad at work, I use spinach instead of lettuce, and I use a lot of it. There are so few calories in spinach that it’s hard to eat too much.

Spinach and greens neutralize free radicals (which are the molecules that accelerate the aging process). They do this with the following: Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin K; folate; beta-carotine; minerals including calcium and magnesium; fiber.

They also help fight against cancer, heart disease, stoke, obesity and osteoporosis.

Some sidekicks of spinach include: cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts; green, yellow, red and orange vegetables too, like asparagus, peppers and yellow beans. Personally, I don’t like asparagus but I’ve only ever had it cooked. Come to think of it, I don’t like cooked spinach but I love it raw and fresh. Perhaps I should try raw asparagus. I love red peppers and occasionally enjoy green peppers, but I’ve never had yellow beans.

Don’t fry vegetables or douse them with fatty cheese sauces. It will ruin their effectiveness.

One serving of spinach supplies nearly a full day’s worth of vitamin A and half the required amount of vitamin C. It contains lots of Folate, which protects against heart disease, stroke, and colon cancer.

Broccoli is high in fiber and more densely packed with vitamins and minerals than almost any other food. I like to eat broccoli raw or cooked, but if you don’t it, try to puree it and add it to chili or a marinara sauce. Also, the more you chop it up, the easier it is for your body to absorb its nutrients.

To do: try yellow beans, and raw asparagus.

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