Vegetables are very popular foods and are known to provide large amounts of vitamins and nutrients to the body. For that reason, most nutrition experts recommend eating vegetables to maintain optimal health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
However, despite this, some studies found that today most people do not maintain a healthy diet since they do not know what are the essential nutrients to stay healthy and what are the most nutritious foods .
To have a healthy and balanced diet, you must incorporate nutrient-rich foods such as vegetables into your dietary program. To do this, it will be useful to know which are the 17 most nutritious vegetables .
What are the most essential nutrients for the body?
Different investigations affirm that at present many people are not eating adequately because they do not ingest 11 of the nutrients necessary for the well-being of the body, such as the following:
- Potassium.
- Fiber.
- Vitamin D.
- The calcium.
- Vitamin A.
- Vitamin B-6.
- Vitamin B-12.
- Zinc.
- Folic acid.
- Magnesium
- The iron.
How do you choose the most nutritious vegetables?
The Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) It allows you to classify whole foods by the high amounts of nutrients they have, thus allowing people to choose the foods that contain the maximum amount of micronutrients and eat much better.
This system is calculated by evaluating a wide range of micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, beneficial phytochemicals, and antioxidant capabilities.
Some grocery stores have adopted this rating system and allow consumers to see the rating signs for each food item.
What are the 17 most nutritious vegetables?
Foods that are at the top of the Added Nutrient Density (ANDI) scale are the following green vegetables:
- Chinesse cabbage.
- Watercress.
- Green cabbage.
- Mustard leaves.
- Chard.
- Spinach.
- Arugula
- Romaine lettuce
- Brussels sprouts.
- Broccoli.
- The carrots.
- Cauliflower.
- Green peppers.
- The asparagus.
- Mushrooms
- The tomatoes.
- Sweet potatoes.
Today, these foods are likely to be found as tasty salad options in most restaurants.
Why is it more beneficial to eat vegetables than processed food?
Instead of eating processed food we have to start eating foods with a larger nutritional dose. For example, if you eat about 20 corn chips, you would be eating 176 calories, 8 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbohydrates, and 3 grams of protein.
On the other hand, if you eat three cups of raw cabbage, you would be consuming 100 calories, 1 gram of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 7 of protein, in addition to 618 percent of vitamin A, 402 percent of vitamin C, 27 percent of calcium and 19 percent of iron.
Reference
- Jess Barron. What Are THE 28 Most Nutritious Foods ?. For livestrong [Revised August 2016].
