Posted on 06/06/2014 4:13:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Anyone who’s paying attention knows it’s a very good idea to eat green, leafy vegetables and colorful citrus fruits. Over time, research has shown their association with reducing cancer and chronic disease. In fact, most of us know that we should be consuming multiple helpings of these foods each day. (Here is a handy calculator from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that helps you figure out how much you need.)
But which vegetables are best? Fads come and go as quickly as that kale in your fridge. One day it’s broccoli, the next cabbage. And how do you compare the benefits of vegetables versus fruits?
Researchers at William Paterson University in New Jersey have done all of us a big favor by producing a list of 41 “powerhouse fruits and vegetables” ranked by the amounts of 17 critical nutrients they contain. In a study published Thursday in the CDC journal “Preventing Chronic Disease,” the foods are scored by their content of fiber, potassium, protein, calcium, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin D and other nutrients, all considered important to public health.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
My Grandmother knew. Her Cress salads were a legend in the family. At one time when I was a kid, there was a pristine spring across the road. But the cattle industry up the valley has turned that spring into a cholera trap.
The texture of them turn me off terribly.
The list shows sweet potatos second from the bottom in nutritional value.
Do a search on the nutrition of sweet potato and find it ranks highest in nutritional value.
My grandmother picked wild watercress too. Would take her children on little picnics by a very small river.
I can’t even find it here in Colorado, but I’ve only looked for it online. Might have to go to Sprouts, or something.
Watercress is great in eggs. Thanks nickcarraway.
Sometimes I watch the show, “The Monster Inside Me”. (Completely gross.) One episode was about some disgusting parasite people had, and one of the main methods to get it is through watercress. Nasty.
I had a spinach salad for brunch and am having fuax mint ice cream for this evening’s dessert ... baby spinach, two frozen bananas, a dash of coconut milk, in a blender with a quarter teaspoon of peppermint extract. Add ice cubes if you like it softer.
I see dandelion greens on the list. All my older Italian relatives seem to love that stuff, but as Junior Soprano said in disgust, “it’s like eatin’ red fescue.”
I don’t see cheesecake anywhere on the list? (Who wants to eat weeds? If the good Lord wanted me to graze on grassy stuff, He’d have given me four stomaches and a nice long tail.). :)
Compare to ranking on the bitterness scale: Same
What, no bacon?
I have cress and quite a few of the others in my garden. I love greens of all types!
And ‘maters. Heirloom ‘maters.
Greens and bacon.
One of the good Lord’s gifts.
They are really high in vitamin A (283% of the recommended daily allowance per 100 grams), but the method caps that value at 100% so most of it doesn't count. They're not very high in other nutrients.
Yeah, that’s a pretty selective list of nutrients they’re covering.
>
the list:
That’s what food eats.
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