In the wake of the popularity of vegetarianism and raw food diets, more and more new products are appearing on supermarket shelves. And even if you are not a follower of these eating styles, vegetables should definitely be included in your daily diet. By limiting ourselves to vegetables traditionally offered depending on the time of year, we lose a lot.
Below are 8 healthy and tasty, but for some reason not so popular vegetables, which are definitely worth including in your diet. Take note.
This is a distant relative of celery and carrots. In addition to its unusual taste, the vegetable has many medicinal properties, promotes digestion and is considered a dietary product, as it stimulates metabolism and is a diuretic. Parsnips contain potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, and chlorine.
It is best cooked by steaming, baking or boiling, but it can also be eaten raw.
Native to the Mediterranean, this plant has large, fleshy inflorescences that are eaten. Possessing excellent taste, this vegetable has dietary and medicinal properties.
You can eat both young shoots and fully ripe inflorescences. The cooking methods are varied: they are pickled, boiled or canned, later added to pizza, bread, salads, pasta and pies.
The vegetable contains rutin, many acids and vitamins C, A, B.
Only its stems, low in calories and consisting of 95% water, are considered edible. However, it can only be called a dietary product in its raw form, since most rhubarb dishes require a lot of sugar when preparing them.
This unique vegetable is also often used to make pies.
The more popularly known name for this plant is “earthen pear”. Jerusalem artichoke tubers contain fiber, carotene, pectin, insulin and amino acids.
Jerusalem artichoke has a wide range of uses in cooking: it is fried, stewed, evaporated, boiled or added raw to salads.
This vegetable belongs to the celery family, but looks more like dill. The leaves contain ascorbic acid, ruin, vitamins B, E and K, and carotene. But fennel fruits contain essential oil, fatty oil, proteins, sugar.
The process of growing chicory is very interesting: after harvesting, the roots are transplanted into a separate container and protected from light. Potassium, which is also found in chicory, also affects the stable functioning of the heart.
It slows down the heart rate, increases its amplitude, removes excess cholesterol from the blood and dilates blood vessels. The beneficial properties of chicory also lie in the content of vitamin B, which has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
Most often, chicory is used in salads and eaten raw, but there are other recipes for preparing this unusual plant.
These funny vegetables are a type of pumpkin. They are rich in fiber, contain starch, sugar, proteins and pectin, as well as many vitamins. Squash is eaten boiled, fried, stewed or stuffed.
This variety of cabbage has an edible stem that is shaped like a turnip. Low calorie content is another plus of kohlrabi. Eating kohlrabi has a beneficial effect on metabolism and the functioning of the digestive system, especially the liver, gall bladder, and gastrointestinal tract.
Kohlrabi salads are the most popular, but the vegetable can also be added to stews, soups and even pancakes.
As Komsomolskaya Pravda was told by an endocrinologist, nutritionist, head of the Clinic of Dietetics and Nutritional Support at the Medical University. N.I. Piragua Ekaterina Ivannikova, a person needs to eat about 300 g of vegetables and 200 g of fruit per day. If you know that an average apple weighs about 200 g, then this is quite a bit. But with all the variety of the same vegetables, everyone has different benefits. Here are some worth adding to your daily diet.
Curly cabbage (kale or kale). Not only is it a low-calorie product, but it also contains a lot of antioxidants, vitamins A, C and K. It is also an excellent combination of protein and amino acids. It is better to eat it raw or steam it a little.
Brussels sprouts. It contains an anti-aging antioxidant – kaempferol. It is also ideally eaten raw, but can also be boiled or steamed until al dente.
White cabbage. The simplest and most accessible version of cabbage for Russians, and one of the healthiest. Cabbage is full of vitamins, but vitamin C is especially valuable here. It is involved in tissue regeneration and collagen production and is necessary for metabolism. Interestingly, sauerkraut has the most benefits. You can read why this is so here.
Broccoli. There are already legends about its benefits, but it really contains a lot of valuable things. Cabbage will support the functioning of the digestive organs, heart, muscles and slow down aging. It can be consumed raw, stewed, or boiled.
Cauliflower. This vegetable contains a lot of flavonoids, chlorophyll, quercetin and coumaric acid, as well as antioxidants. Few people dare to eat it raw, but boiled or lightly fried it’s a nice thing.
Other vegetables
Spinach. An excellent product for those watching their figure – high in fiber and antioxidants, but low in calories. Spinach improves brain function, slightly lowers blood pressure and protects against some chronic diseases. It is good added to salads or if slightly fried, for example, in omelets. The only thing is that people with gout or high levels of uric acid should not eat it.
Green pea. It is healthy, but not in canned form – there is a lot of salt in it. You can learn about all the vitamins and valuable properties of peas here.
Green bean. It is also a legume or asparagus. The product is rich in fiber, vitamins, and protein. Great for satiating the body, helping with weight control, supporting heart health and reducing inflammation. It is best eaten boiled, stewed or baked.
Asparagus. Another valuable green vegetable. It is rich in glutathione, an antioxidant that helps restore the body and slow down aging. Asparagus also contains folic acid and vitamin B12, which together help reduce the risk of cognitive decline. It is better to eat boiled.
Celery. It will perfectly dilute boring vegetable salads and saturate the body with potassium and water-soluble vitamins. It is also simply an indispensable vegetable for those who are watching their weight. Celery improves heart function, prolongs the youth of the body and strengthens the nervous system. We talked more about the benefits of the vegetable in this material.
