Hi! Here’s Day 2 of info from the UCSD Class – Healthy Healing Foods.
It’s so important for me to teach that Food is Your Best Medicine. I do so on stage at the Fairgrounds in their kitchen up to 4 times in June for the last 3 years.
The many blogs on this topic I have written include:
There are 62 (count ’em sixty-two) articles on Healthy Benefits of Food on this website and more in the Healthy Eating section as well. Go into ‘search’ on the top right of the page and do your own search! Or scale to bottom right, and check out my categories. There’s plenty more easy, fun reading because I have done all the research for you!
However I will also say that never take what I say in place of your own research or good common sense. This is just a ‘starter’ to get you thinking about foods in a different way.
During class there was not much time to delve into this topic of the value of vegetables. But here’s what we covered:
So, let’s talk about the three featured veggies.
First: Asparagus. The slide clearly shows (oh? you think the slide is blurry? No. It’s just you. lol) that Asparagus has Folate and Vitamin B helping you with high blood pressure.
I also asked you to take a look at the picture. You see how I slightly trimmed off the chewy or should I say hard to chew brown parts with a slight peeling? That’s what the restaurants do for both asparagus and broccoli skin.
Second: Beets. Hate ’em or love ’em. I’ve never met anyone who is in between. Nitrates (again good for high blood pressure), Fiber and Vitamin K are some of the nutrients and benefits along with minerals like Potassium (essential for healthy nerve and muscle function) and Manganese (which is good for your bones, liver, kidneys, and pancreas). Beets also contain the B vitamin folate, which helps reduce the risk of birth defects.
The thing you really have to watch out for with beets is they stain. Now this comes in very handy during Easter. You can stain your eggs with Beet Juice. But in terms of your hands, I prefer to buy packaged beets at Trader Joe’s, and carefully slice them into a salad.
Third: Baby Kale. This is one of our SuperFoods! Packed with nutrients including Beta Carotine and Vitamin C. According to The University of Maryland Medical Center: “In the body, beta-carotene converts into vitamin A (retinol). We need vitamin A for good vision and eye health, for a strong immune system, and for healthy skin and mucous membranes. Taking big doses of vitamin A can be toxic, but your body only converts as much vitamin A from beta-carotene as it needs”.
So, you can’t over dose on beta-carotene!
As a Chef, when it comes to Kale, I warned you about buying Kale vs buying Baby Kale (unless you are using Kale to wrap food in, which I still don’t think is a great idea).
For your friends who say “I hate Kale”, it’s probably because they’re buying Kale, not Baby Kale which is less fibrous, has a softer smell and taste and is easily consumed. One of our students suggested Kale and Collard Greens.
According to Healthy Eating: “Not only do collard greens supply good doses of protein, fiber, calcium and iron, but the leafy green vegetables also provide more impressive amounts of other key vitamins and minerals. Cooked collard greens don’t need to be limp and dull; prepared correctly, collard greens can be tasty in addition to being nutritious”.
That sounds YUM to me! And that’s a double dose of good health!
More tomorrow with a special video on how and what to cook!
Happy Healthy Eating,
