LOVE HEALTH?  LOVE GREENS.

By Eve Prang Plews
 Licensed Nutritoin Couselor
(Originally published in Sarasota's Natural Awakeings magazine April, 2010)

            Green your menu in a very beneficial way – eat more greens.  With less than 10% of Americans eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, greens get very little of the emphasis they deserve as health power houses.  We evolved on a diet high in leaves.  Our ancestors likely ate a pound or more of leaves from every type of plant – including weeds like dandelion.  All culinary leaves share a common chlorophyll flavor often called “green” or “grassy”.  This potential cancer blocker stops cell mutations, the first step to cancer formation.  Chlorophyll also blocks the formation of nitrosamines, one of the most powerful carcinogens known.  We’re exposed to nitrosamines when we eat many smoked meats, hot dogs, lunch meat and the like.

            Leaves, despite their often delicate, thin structure, are a major source of iron and calcium in the diet (with the exceptions of Swiss chard and spinach.)  Immune functions are improved with the rich source of beta-carotene in leaves.  This carotenoid is a confirmed cancer antagonist eaten more often by people worldwide with lower rates of all kinds of cancer, specifically lung cancer.  Dr. Richard Shekelle at University of Texas found that high carotene foods like kale and spinach rescued smokers from lung cancer risks by over 85%!  John Hopkins University researchers confirmed that those with the highest blood levels of carotene were least likely to develop lung cancer.  Since lung cancer is the leading cancer killer – eating greens matters.  Even if you don’t smoke, you breathe toxic air daily.  Protect your lungs with greens.  Spinach omelet for breakfast anyone?

            Greens also contain carotenes other than beta.  Lutein and zeaxanthin are concentrated in the macula region of the retina and the eye lens.  Protection against cataracts and the second most common cause of blindness, age related macula degeneration, comes from a diet high in greens.

            Low in fat, high in fiber, rich in folic acid, Vitamin C, potassium and magnesium as well as a host of other phytochemicals, greens benefit everyone.  There are more choices than just spinach salad.  Remember spinach comes in #14 on the 2010 Environmental Working Group list of most pesticide contaminated vegetables after kale at #8, so buy organic greens.  Read the whole list of pesticide levels in fruits and vegetables at www.EWG.org.

            The cabbage family consists of kale, collards, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, broccoli rabe, turnip, Napa cabbage, watercress, cress, mustard and nasturtium.  The bitter pungent and strong smells of these veggies come from the sulfur compounds that make these members of the cabbage family so good for us.  While words like glucosinolates or isothiocyanates don’t roll off the tongue, they do roll back disease and increase the livers’ ability to neutralize toxins.  Bok choy stir-fried with a little toasted sesame oil at the end.  Yum.

            The longer greens are cooked, the paler they become as they leach their green pigment chlorophyll into the cooking liquid.  Maximum color and thus nutrition are attained by cooking greens quickly.  Leave the lid off to reduce acids that are also chlorophyll’s enemy.  Any acid, vinegar or citrus juice, or just the acids present in the vegetable itself will discolor greens from bright green to yellow-grey-green.  That blah color is not so appetizing or so healthy.  As all vegetables are slightly acidic, when you lift the lid to allow a little steam (and acid) to escape, green veggies will be brighter.  The opposite is true for red and purple leaves like red cabbage or radicchio that get brighter when acids combine with their coloring pigment, anthocyanins.

            The spinach family which includes beets, chard, amaranth (and even quinoa) is the second leaf family.  Lettuces, chicories and endives are from the daisy family.  Hundreds of lettuces from mild to bitter, in different colors, leaf sizes and textures exist around the world.  Even the lowly, maligned dandelion, a powerhouse in both leaf and root, is the most prolific and least cultivated of all the lettuce family.  Yet it grows on every continent and makes a great salad with young, tender leaves and a pungent side dish when cooked mature leaves are used.  Don’t forget the dandelion flowers which are made into wine.  Sautéed onion in olive oil with dandelion greens are good hot or cold with a dash of balsamic or rice vinegar.

            Greens are even good for your mood.  Folic acid deficiency is widespread in the U.S. especially among young women.  Shortage of this critical B vitamin fosters psychiatric disorders, notably depression.  Medical literature is astonishing in this agreement.  People deliberately deprived of folic acid lapsed into sleeplessness, forgetfulness and irritability after 5 months.  Yet restoring the vitamin eliminated symptoms in 2 days!

            Protect your vision, maintain mood, help your bones, reduce cancer risks, all low in calories and delicious in so many ways – what’s not to like about greens?  Try a new one this week.  A million recipes are now available on the web including Full Spectrum Health’s website, www.fullspectrumhealth.com.  You don’t have to put bacon or ham in greens to make them a delicious staple in your diet.  Shoot for at least 3-4 cups weekly. 

Greening the diet is not just buying locally and organically, it’s also greening your plate.

Eve Prang Plews, a Licensed Nutrition Counselor, has been practicing at her Sarasota clinic, Full Spectrum Health, for 22 years. You may contact her at 941 952-1200 or www.fullspectrumhealth.com.  Her previous articles are available at www.eveplews.com.  Eve’s radio show: No Nonsense Nutrition, airs Mondays at 9 AM on WSLR 96.5 FM, or stream it live at www.wslr.org.