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

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

Why should we eat vegetables? In recent years, the consumption of refined and manipulated products, as well as meat and animal foods, has multiplied. 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, obesity, cholesterolemia, hypertension, cavities, osteoarthritis, constipation, cancer…

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

• They provide essential vitamins and minerals, especially if they are consumed raw.
• They contribute to keep sugar and cholesterol levels at bay in the blood.
• They strengthen the immune system and, therefore, prevent many ailments.
• They are rich in fiber, so regulate intestinal transit and fight constipation.
• To the digest easily They are indicated in case of digestive problems.
• They are irreplaceable in the diets of slimming and of depuration.
• They turn out Ideal for people who suffer from hypertension and cardiovascular problems.

15 vegetables and greens with unbeatable healthy properties

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

1. Chard: hypocaloric and remineralizing

This vegetable large green leaves and fleshy white stems (pencas) provides valuable nutrients with hardly any calories (28 per 100 g) and one good dose of fiberabundant 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 very green leaves.

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

The ideal thing is to take it rawchopped into 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 amountssince chard is rich in oxalates.

2. Garlic: a circulatory stimulant

This bulb with an unmistakable smell 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 regulate fat balances 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 reduces 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 regenerating liver.

Today it is known that its active ingredients also give it an enormous capacity to control blood cholesterol levelssince it is precisely in the liver where fats are metabolized, so its poor functioning favors an increase in LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

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

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

The artichoke has 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 can treat 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 usually 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 stalks: fried or baked, their fiber softens and is well tolerated.

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

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

Benefiting from 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 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 purees, 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 reveals 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 one 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, but rather its active ingredients.

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

Onion, especially if consumed raw, has a bactericidal powercapable of fighting respiratory infections, such as colds, flu and bronchitis.

It is capable of raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol and reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, which has a positive impact on blood circulation.

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

7. Cruciferous: protection of cells

Cabbage in all its varieties (curly, smooth, Lombard, Chinese, purple, Romanesco…), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower…they have very similar nutritional and therapeutic properties: all these vegetables are usually 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 to extend 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 anti-cancer 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 quantities of cruciferous vegetables, but include them frequently in winter menusits natural time.

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

8. Endive: source of folic acid

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

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

The greatest virtue of escarole 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 bile formation.

Start a meal with a plate of salad Containing a good proportion of escarole is the best way to enjoy these virtues.

9. Asparagus: tasty cleanser

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

This, together with its powerful diuretic actionthey make them a good resource for a cleansing 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 distributed over the weekend.

10. Spinach: nutrient champions

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

They also constitute one of the most powerful natural anticancer agents in the plant kingdom. It has been shown that regular consumption of its leaves inhibits the growth of cancerous tumors, mainly those of the stomach, skin, prostate and bladder.

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

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

It is also true that The richness in oxalates hinders the absorption of iron and calciumbut that’s only partially. Now, that richness in oxalates makes them…