Glorious Greens
Green vegetables are the food most missing in modern diets. Learning to cook and eat greens is essential to creating health. When you nourish yourself with greens, they naturally crowd out the foods that make you sick. Greens help build your internal rain forest and strengthen blood and respiratory systems. They are especially good for city people who rarely see fields of green in the open countryside. Green is associated with spring, the time of renewal, refreshment and vital energy. In Asian medicine, green is related to liver, emotional stability and creativity.
Nutritionally, greens are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E, and K. They are crammed with fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll, and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals.
Some of the benefits from eating dark leafy greens are:
- blood purification
- cancer prevention
- improved circulation
- strengthened immune system
- promotion of healthy intestinal flora
- subtle, light and flexible energy
- lifted spirit and elimination of depression
- improved liver, gallbladder and kidney function
- clearing of congestion, especially in lungs by reducing mucus
There are so many greens to choose from. Find greens that you love and eat them a lot. When you get bored of your favorites, be adventurous and try greens that you've never heard of before. Cook them with something rich like tofu, seeds, nuts, beans, butter, animal products or oil. This will balance the effect of the oxalic acid.
Cooking Greens
Try a variety of methods like steaming, boiling, sauteing in oil, water sauteing, pressed salad and waterless cooking. Boiling makes greens plump and relaxed. Boil for under a minute so that the nutrients in the greens do not get lost in the water. You can also drink the cooking water as a health-giving broth or tea, if you're using organic greens. Steaming makes greens for fibrous and tight, which is great for people who are trying to lose weight. Raw salad is also a wonderful food. It's refreshing, cooling, soft and supplies live enzymes.
When most people hear "leafy green vegetables", they probably think of iceberg lettuce, but the ordinary, pale lettuce in restaurant salads doesn't have the power-packed goodness of other greens. Get into the habit of adding these leafy green vegetables to your diet as much as possible. Try it out for a month and see how you feel.
Institute for Integrative Nutrition
http://www.intergrativenutrition.com
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