Food greens, more commonly known as cooking greens, can serve as your ally in the war against a burgeoning belly. Greens add a nutrient-rich food to your plate that is loaded with complex carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and more to quell your hunger and satisfy your nutritional needs. Greens help you feel full and offer nutrition but carry few calories.
Types
Cooking greens, steeped in a rich, Southern tradition, are reputed to bring you good luck when consumed on New Year's Day. Cooking greens include types of cabbages where the leaves are loose and don't form a tight, compact head, including mustard, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli rabe, kohlrabi, bok choy, beet greens, spinach and collard greens.
Nutrition and Fiber
Cooking greens provide vitamins A, C, E and K, as well as B vitamins, including pyridoxine, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and thiamin. Greens also provide zeaxanthin, calcium, folate, lutein and beta-carotene, as well as phytonutrients and micronutrients. The nutrient-density of greens more than qualifies them to earn the "superfood" label. For example, a 1-cup serving of mustard-spinach provides 295 percent of the daily value of vitamin A, 195 percent of vitamin C, 8 percent of iron and 28 percent of calcium and has 3.1 g of protein, providing 6 percent of the daily value, according to CalorieLab.com. These nutrients come packaged with fiber that creates a sense of fullness, cleans your gut and slows the release of carbohydrates into your bloodstream, stabilizing your blood sugar and helping to quell your appetite long after you've eaten.
Calories and Fat
The fiber and nutrition provided by cooking greens comes at a slim caloric cost. A 1-cup serving of spinach contains only 41 calories and has only .5g of fat.
Chlorophyll for Health
Cooking greens, like other green plants, get their color from chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a potent antioxidant that offers varied health benefits. It improves the flow of oxygen to your cells and assists in the release of toxin. Benefits can include lower cholesterol, improved vision, lower blood pressure and lower risk of certain types of cancer, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
Healthy Cooking
Expand your repertoire of how you prepare greens. Greens can be eaten raw. Try chopping them into your salad to diversify the nutritional profile of your salad. When you cook greens, they shrink a lot, so you increase your nutrition and your sense of fullness. Add greens to stir-fries, curries, soups, broths and stews or use them as stuffing. Serve them as a side dish, cooked with garlic, onion and other seasonings of your choosing, or try serving them chilled with lemon juice and olive oil. Stir chopped greens into whole-grain pasta along with pine nuts, feta cheese, chicken breast and olive-oil. No matter how you serve your greens, you can feel good knowing that greener is leaner.
Member Comments