According to this article at the Mayo Clinic website those with the highest intake of vitamin K reduce their risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma by 45%. My first thought was what foods contain the most vitamin K? Here they are according to Nutrition data:
Amaranth leaves (not to likely to find those locally)
Parsley
Chard
Kale
Watercress
Spinach
Mustard Greens
Turnip Greens
Beet Greens
Except for the amaranth greens which I have never seen for sale in the US, we eat all of these, particularly spinach. After reading this article I may plant a little more parsley this year. ;-) You can never have too much nutrition from plants in my book.
Sadly I have not always been a fan of vegetables. In fact you could say I didn’t really like them. My mother has always hating cooking. If you liked veggies with texture my childhood home was not the place to be. Thankfully I taught myself to cook and now I love veggies, so there is hope for everyone, even your child. I truly believe one of the most important things we can give our children are healthy lifestyle habits. Experts say you have to introduce a new food at least a dozen times before children are likely to enjoy it. I say do whatever you need to get those veggies into your kids, especially the green leafy ones. ;-) Why am I mentioning that I have not always like veggies? It is very simple actually. Many people are under the impression that my diet has always been uber healthy. That is so far from the truth you probably would be shocked. I want everyone to realize that even a veggie hating meat eater can change their ways. I know I did. I will talk more about this in future posts.
Back to the article, which goes on to suggest that this data agrees with other studies which have shown that a diet high in green leafy vegetables is protective in terms of both additional cancer cell lines and other diseases. In my book this is just another reason to keep eating those greens. As I have said before, the more I read about nutrition the more convinced I am that a whole foods plant based diet is the way to go in terms of health.
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteI was scared of kale for the longest time believe it or not! I have tried so many new dark green veggies lately that I startle my self. If it is dark and green and leafy I eat it. I have been trying to find dandelion leaves and some rainbow chard, but they are nonexistant here in Kansas I guess.
Brandi,
ReplyDeleteThanks. :-)
Kale was one of those things that took me a while to learn to love. Now I am working on learning to love raw kale in salad. ;-)
Dandelion greens are great, a little bitter but great. I make pesto out of them, or use them in soup or salad.
Rainbow chard is another good one, but much more mild in flavor than the dandelion greens. I use it in place of spinach.
Have you considered growing them? I think Rose has both in her garden this year. I know she planted dandelion greens.
Alicia
I love kale! I blend kale, spinach, parsley, celery, lemon, a 1/2 beet, a thumb of ginger and aloe vera juice in my Vita Mix daily.
ReplyDeleteFabulous!
Also love kale salads or sautted kale with orange juice, raisins and garlic.
Cannot go a day without greens!
Easy soup - tons of baby spinach, garlic, jerk seasoning, ginger and coconut milk. Fabulous
Great! Another reason to eat up those greens- I love them, steamed with lemon juice, s+p.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely no reason why anyone can't change their diet. I used to be the fussiest eater, and plain pasta was my favourite food, I was not keen on veg and would not eat ANY fruit. I'm just 20 now and throughout my teens learnt to love the taste of whole foods and how they make me feel. It's not about depriving the body but nourishing it.
Hey pretty lady - thanks for sharing this. Thankfully I have always been a veggie girl. I wasn't always into greens other than spinach though. Now I'm loving kale. Still out on some of the others though...
ReplyDeleteTeresa,
ReplyDeleteThat juice sounds really good. I have yet to try aloe vera juice. How much do you add and what does it taste like?
Your salad, cooked kale and soup also sound really good. You may have just given me a lunch idea. Thanks!
Emma,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with fruits and veggies. I think many people believe that vegans were born loving produce and that doesn't seem to be true for most of us. It does seem to be an acquired taste, but one that is well worth cultivating.
Heather,
Thanks, you are too sweet! :-) Swiss chard is something you will probably like. It has a very mild flavor, much more like spinach than the other greens. Since the leaves are bigger than spinach it is great for stuffing. I will try to pick some up soon and post my recipe for Sicilian stuffed chard.
Alicia
My mom hated to cook too but when I was in college, my roommate's grandmother cooked for us once a week and she would get upset if I didn't eat everything she prepared (and if we weren't there at 5 pm on the dot with hands washed!). I quickly realized that I liked vegetables, a lot! It took a while after that to learn how to prepare them myself, and now I am still learning how to prepare them in a healthy manner. Thanks for the encouraging post!
ReplyDeleteMorgan,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear you found this encouraging. Thank you so much for letting me know. If you ever have any questions please ask. I am happpy to share anything I have learned.
Alicia