The 15 most powerful vegetables to protect the body

In 1991, the American Committee for Responsible Medicine proposed a specific daily consumption of vegetables of three or more servings, one of which should be taken indispensably in raw.

Currently the amount of vegetables and fruits recommended by the WHO is to take 5 servings every daydivided between both food groups, half raw.

Why should we eat vegetables? In recent years, the consumption of refined and processed products has multiplied, as well as meat and animal foods. The diet has thus gained calories, saturated fats, proteins, simple sugars and cholesterol and has lost fresh foods.

All This favors imbalances and various diseases: cardiovascular disease, obesity, cholesterolemia, hypertension, cavities, osteoarthritis, constipation, cancer…

On the contrary, vegetables full of living enzymes, vitamins, minerals, trace elements… can reverse the degenerative process of the body and prevent and even cure many health disorders.

They provide essential vitamins and minerals, especially if they are eaten raw.contribute to keep sugar and cholesterol rate at bay in the blood.They strengthen the immune system and, therefore, prevent many ailments. They are rich in fiber, so they regulate intestinal transit and combat constipation. be easily digested They are indicated in case of digestive problems. They are irreplaceable in the diets of slimming and of depuration.result Ideal for people suffering from hypertension and cardiovascular problems.

15 vegetables with unbeatable healthy properties

In this article we present a selection of 15 very healthy vegetables, to choose according to tastes.

1. Swiss chard: hypocaloric and remineralizing

This vegetable of large green leaves and fleshy white stems (pads) brings valuable nutrients with hardly any calories (28 per 100 g) and one good dose of fiber, abundant in its stems. That is why its consumption is basic, especially in weight loss diets.

Among the main nutrients of chard, it is worth highlighting beta carotenewhich concentrates especially in the very green leaves.

A 200 g serving also provides 46% of the iron that is needed daily, 25% of the calcium18% of the potassium100% of the vitamins A and C and 20% of the vitamin B2. These figures confirm their remineralizing power.

The ideal is to take it rawchopped in salad or scalded to take advantage of their laxative and diuretic properties.

Although everyone can consume it, those who are prone to kidney stones should moderate the amountsbecause chard is rich in oxalates.

2. Garlic: a circulatory stimulant

This unmistakable scent bulb is one of the most healing foods in the plant world. Not in vain have more than 200 active substances been found in it, one of which, allicin, It is used to combat flu, colds or herpes for its anti-infective effect.

Garlic helps to regulate the balance of fatss in the body and improve blood circulation. The reason is that its active components decrease the synthesis of dangerous cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides.

It has a vasodilator and antiplatelet effect, thanks to its sulfur compounds, which decreases the risk of thrombosis or heart attackas well as a proven hypotensive, antioxidant and bactericidal capacity.

Take every day one or two cloves of garlic, raw or cookedis enough to notice its benefits.

3. Artichoke: balm for the liver

The fleshy artichoke was already consumed in the Middle Ages as protective and regenerative liver.

Today it is known that its active principles also endow it with an enormous capacity to control blood cholesterol levelsbecause it is precisely in the liver where fats are metabolized, so its poor functioning favors the rise in LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

For this same reason, the regular consumption of artichokes improves the cardiovascular system and decreases the risk of heart attack, angina pectoris and arteriosclerosis.

It is also a vegetable diuretic and purifying actionwhose sugar, inulin, is well tolerated by diabetic patients.

The artichoke presents a high fiber content (5.5%), phosphorus, iron, potassium and B vitaminsin exchange for very few calories.

The best way to consume them is fresh, baked or steamed with a little olive oil.

Drinking the decoction of its bitter leaves allows treating hepatobiliary problemsincluding convalescence from hepatitis, and facilitates diuresis.

4. Celery: diuretic and detoxifying

Abundant source of cellulose and fiber, Celery is a vegetable rich in potassium, calcium, iron, manganese, vitamins C, E and B6 and especially folic acid..

Its leaves are often used fresh or dried as seasoning for soups and creams; while the stems are taken raw as an appetizer or in salads.

For the most delicate stomachs it is preferable to cook the pencas: fried or baked, its fiber softens and it is well tolerated.

Effective cleanser, its regular consumption can help reduce blood pressure more than 10% and cholesterol 7%, which benefits cardiovascular health.

It is also indicated in case of hyperuricemia, gout, fluid retention, kidney problems and arthritis. Being an effective diuretic.

Taking advantage of its properties is simple: just add it to salads or drink a glass of the juice of its leaves and stems before the main meal. If you prefer, you can also take the decoction of the chopped plant.

5. Pumpkin: nutritious and digestive

The meat and the seeds of the pumpkin complement each other perfectly, providing a optimal food to strengthen health in the cold months. The pulp is an excellent base for creams and purées, which it enriches with its antioxidant vitamins with hardly any calories.

A 150 g serving satisfies 25% of the daily needs of vitamin C and 15% of Vitamin A (he intense orange color betrays this richness in beta-carotene), in addition to providing iron and potassium.

Its seeds are also very valuable because a dose of 30 g covers almost 50% of the needs of magnesium and 40% of those of phosphorus and ironin addition to 15% of the zinc that requires an adult per day.

a daily handful of raw pumpkin seeds are enough to take care of prostate health and eliminate intestinal parasitesvery common in children and travelers.

6. Onion: ally of the lungs

The popular onion, used in many cuisines around the world, not only provides a pleasant aroma and flavor to the dishes but turns them into healthier preparations.

The reason is not so much its vitamins and minerals, which are proportionally not very abundant, as its active principles.

Its sulfur compounds give it notable anti-infectious virtueswhile quercetin, a flavonoid, exerts a antiallergic action.

The onion, especially if eaten raw, has a bactericidal powercapable of fighting respiratory infections, such as colds, flu and bronchitis.

He is able to raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, which has a positive impact on blood circulation.

According to recent studies carried out in Switzerland, the daily consumption of 100 g of onion can prevent osteoporosis decreasing bone mass loss by up to 20%.

7. Cruciferae: cell protection

Cabbage in all its varieties (curly, smooth, lombard, china, purple, romanesco…), broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower… have very similar nutritional and therapeutic properties: all these vegetables tend to be very rich in fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin A, calcium, iron, selenium and B vitaminsproviding very few calories.

Broccoli is the most studied of the group, but its properties seem extensive to the rest of the family.

It is known that, like cabbage, it contains compounds such as indoles, glucosinalates and monoterpenes that can help reduce the risk of developing tumorsespecially those of the stomach, colon, lung and skin.

In the same way, cabbage is the great vegetable for cancer prevention, since it has been proven that women with breast cancer who ingested fresh cabbage juice transformed the indole-3-carbinol of this vegetable with anticancer properties.

Raw cabbage juice, on the other hand, is a first order remedy to cure peptic ulcers.

AND fermented cabbage (sauerkraut), benefits the intestinal flora similar to yogurt.

It is not necessary to take large amounts of crucifers, but it is frequently include them in winter menusits natural time.

Raw or lightly steamed they are much tastier and less flatulent. how cooked In this sense, a coleslaw, dressed with a soft vinaigrette and freshly ground cuminpleases even those who most reject this vegetable.

8. Endive: source of folic acid

This vegetable, whose natural season is winterhas folic acid, vitamin C and iron in notable amounts: a 200 g serving comfortably provides the folic acid needed per day and almost half of the vitamin C and iron, although this does not assimilate so well as it is a vegetable.

In smaller percentages also provides vitamin A, potassium, magnesium and calcium.

The greatest virtue of the endive is its ability to stimulate appetite and digestion thanks to the bitter substances it contains, and its consumption is very valuable for patients with the hepatobiliary system, since it promotes the formation of bile.

Starting a meal with a bowl of salad that contains a good proportion of escarole is the best way to enjoy these virtues.

9. Asparagus: tasty purifying

The studs are rich in folic acid, vitamins C, E and group Bas well as in iron and fiber food.

This, coupled with his powerful diuretic actionmake them a good resource for a cleanse and detox monodietwhich can be done over a weekend.

For this you need some six bunches of fresh asparagus being steamed and they are taken spread over the weekend.

10. Spinach: Champions of Nutrients

The most notable virtue of spinach is its nutritional richness, superior to that of the rest of cultivated vegetables.

They also constitute one of the most powerful natural anticarcinogens in the plant kingdom. Regular consumption of its leaves has been shown to inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors, mainly those of the stomach, skin, prostate, and bladder.

Some scientists have related this fact to its abundance in beta-carotene and chlorophyllalthough the exact reason is not known.

A 150 g serving of spinach has only 27 calories, but in return it provides 125% of the Vitamin A that is required per day, all folic acidhalf of ironone third of magnesiumthe fourth part of calciumhe potassium and the vitamin Cone fifth of the Vitamin Ethe sixth part of the vitamin B6…and the list goes on.

Also is true that the richness in oxalates hinders the absorption of iron and calcium, but that is only partially. Now, that richness in oxalates…