C Is For
Cucumbers, Carrots and Colors
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| Veggies Look Good in You |
Colors that
look good in you. Yellows and oranges are rich in vitamin A and Greens detoxify
and are enhanced with vitamin C. The darker the color the better the
nutritional value of all of your fruits and vegetables. Bananas pack in the benefits as they turn
darker and even have brown spots on the skin only means more potassium and
other benefits for you. Purple, as in prunes, plums, berries, contribute to eye
health. And a glass of Cabernet (one a day for women two for men) is also a
plus for your health.
What do we
mean, that look good in you? Vitamin and nutritional health for glowing
healthier you, that's what we are talking about here. A you that will live a
longer more productive life doing what you enjoy doing.
Look at
yellow and orange first. Apricots are a good source of vitamin A and C and the
cancer preventing lycopene. Bananas have potassium benefits; cantaloupe has
beta carotene and one hundred percent of your daily requirements can be found in
a single cup. That cup will include one hundred thirteen percent of your
vitamin C needs as well.
Another
yellow/orange vegetable powerhouse is the carrot for its vitamin A benefits
(and others as well) one hundred fifty of your daily needs in one small cup of
carrot. Cook them whole and then slice them so as not to leech out valuable
nutrients.
Oranges have
vitamin C and potassium, Peaches have A and C, niacin and minerals. Sweet
potatoes have 25,000 IU of Vitamin C, folate, Calcium and manganese in one baked
sweet potato. Talk about bang for your buck Sweet Potatoes are tops.
Acorn squash
is a source of lycopene, folate, and vitamins A and C as well as dietary fiber
and nine hundred milligrams of potassium per cup.
You could conceivably,
alternate these vegetables daily and get to all of them every week. Think of
having fruits for dessert instead of cake (empty calories with few nutritional
benefits) or fat and sugar laden ice cream.
The second
color we'll explore is green. Kermit the Sesame Street Frog may say, "It
ain't easy being green," but eating green is easy and healthy.
Greens
include the hero broccoli. A powerhouse of good-for-you eating. Loaded with vitamins.
Eaten raw, steamed, or as a topping on a veggie pizza –its versatile and good
eating.
Asparagus
gives you twenty-five percent of your daily vitamin A and fifteen percent of
the vitamin C and essential folic acid in only eight medium spears with
negligible caloric intake.
Collard
greens are packed with vitamin A (150% of your daily need in ½ cup of cooked
collard greens) thirty percent of your vitamin C and fifteen percent of your
calcium.
Kale also
rich in vitamin A and is a source of lutein. A ½ cup of cooked Kale has nearly
seven times the recommended daily amount of Vitamin K.
Let's not
forget spinach. Many a Popeye the Sailor fan looked to explode his or her
strength with the cartoon character's favorite veggie. Rich in vitamin A and K,
folate, and packed with Lutein it is also associated with a lower risk of
macular degeneration for those looking to age gracefully without vision
problems.
Our final
trip into the colorful world of eating healthy we'll look at purples. Purple isn't just for the Red Hatter women in
the world. From prunes and plums to berries and kidney beans the color purple
is good for you.
Everyone
knows the cure for constipation is prune juice, but 1/ cup of dried prunes
provide ¼ of your daily fiber while providing you with potassium, vitamin A, B6
and powerful antioxidants. How's that for maximizing your snack, breakfast
treat or menu.
What about
kidney beans? Whether they are your favorite ingredient in three bean salad or
chili, they are rich in fiber, iron and proteins as well as potassium, magnesium
and folate.
You can use
Kidney beans as an occasional substitute for a meatless meal for potential
brain food. Cook your own beans using dried beans to avoid the added salt in
canned beans and a bag of beans is cheaper than a can of prepared beans. Out in
Colorado in a small café in Durango they served chili beans as a side dish with
every order, no matter what it was. I thought that was a great addition instead
of chips or fries with a burger or anything.
Berries:
blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, grapes and the Cabernet wine made
from them. Purple looks very good for you and your health.
So many
choices. Such a hearty variety of ways to eat cheap and healthy.
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