Vegetable Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

We all know we should eat a diet rich in fruits vegetables, but what are the vegetable nutrition facts that make these disease-fighting foods so healthy? We've provided a comprehensive chart below with nutrition facts for some of the most common types of vegetables. Benefits of Eating Vegetables

According to the Mayo Clinic, people who eat a plant-based diet generally eat fewer calories and less fat, weigh less, and have lower cholesterol levels. There is compelling evidence that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke; lower your blood pressure; help regulate your digestive system; and reduce your risk for certain cancers. How Much to Eat

The USDA says that most people should eat at least nine servings (4? cups) of vegetables and fruits a day (the average American only eats three servings a day). Make at least half your plate fruits and vegetables with every meal and you'll drastically increase your consumption of fruits and veggies. In general, 1 cup of raw or cooked vegetables or vegetable juice, or 2 cups of raw leafy greens is considered 1 cup toward your daily allotment. For more information, check out this chart from the USDA's updated "choosemyplate.gov" website. What Kinds of Vegetables to Eat

Choose a variety of types and colors of vegetables to give your body a diverse mix of nutrients. Different colored veggies have different nutritional benefits:

Red vegetable nutrition benefits: red veggies contain natural plant pigments called "lycopene" and "anthocyanins." Lycopene is found in tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit, and may help reduce your risk of several types of cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Red Vegetables to Eat: Beets, Red peppers, Radishes, Radicchio, Red onions, Red potatoes, Rhubarb, Tomatoes

Orange/yellow vegetable nutrition benefits: orange and yellow veggies contain natural plant pigments called "carotenoids." These compounds are converted to vitamin A in your body, which helps maintain healthy mucous membranes and healthy eyes. Carotenoid-rich foods can also help reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease, and can boost your immune system.

Vegetables to Eat: Yellow beets, Butternut squash, Carrots, Yellow peppers, Yellow potatoes, Pumpkin, Rutabagas, Yellow summer squash, Sweet corn, Sweet potatoes, Yellow tomatoes, Yellow winter squash

Green vegetable nutrition benefits: green veggies are colored by the natural plant chlorophyll. Certain green vegetables, such as spinach, green peppers, peas, cucumbers, and celery, also contain lutein, which helps keep your eyes healthy. Together, these chemicals may help reduce your risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness if untreated.

Green Vegetables to Eat: Artichokes, Arugula, Asparagus, Broccoli, Broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, Green beans, Green cabbage, Celery, Chayote squash, Cucumbers, Endive, Leafy greens, Leeks, Lettuce, Green onions, Okra, Peas, Green peppers, Snow peas, Sugar snap peas, Spinach, Watercress, Zucchini

Blue/purple vegetable nutrition benefits: blue and purples vegetables are colored by natural plant pigments called anthocyanins, which act as powerful antioxidants that protect cells from damage. They may help reduce your risk of cancer, stroke, and heart disease.

Blue/Purple Vegetables to Eat: Purple asparagus, Purple cabbage, Eggplant, Purple Belgian endive, Purple peppers, Purple-fleshed potatoes

**Go to our vegetarian recipes for some delicious and healthy vegetable recipes. Vegetables Nutrition Facts Chart

Raw, edible weight portion. Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Iceberg Lettuce (1/6 medium head)Leaf Lettuce (1 1/2 cups shredded)

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How to Read a Nutrition Label

Nutrition facts labels are required for most packaged and processed foods. They help consumers like you and me understand what goes into the foods we eat. Learning how to read a nutrition label is a crucial step in eating better.

Here are some simple guidelines on how to read a nutrition label:

Serving Size:

This is the size of each serving, usually based on the amount that the average person will eat. If you are eating 4-6 smaller meals per day, then your serving sizes should generally be smaller. Keep in mind that if there are 10 servings in a package and you eat the whole package, then you have to multiply all the calories, carbs, fat, etc. by 10.

Calories:

The amount of calories in one serving. Divide ?calories from fat? by total calories to get the percentage of that food from fat (remember, this number should not be more than 20-30% per day). Be sure you understand how many calories you should be eating each day and check out this sample menu for a days worth of healthy foods (based on a 2000 calorie diet).

% Daily Value:

Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, these numbers listed on the nutrition label show percentages of total daily values that this serving of food is accounting for.

Total Fat:

The amount of fat (in grams) per serving. If you see any amount of trans fat listed on the label, choose another option. There is a lot of controversy around whether saturated fat is bad for you or not. The general consensus among health experts is to eat saturated fat in moderation and look for "healthy fats" such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats listed on the label.

Cholesterol:

Too much cholesterol can lead to heart disease and stroke. Limit your cholesterol intake as much as possible. If you eat a lot of eggs, try eating a 4:1 ratio of egg whites to egg yolks instead. The yolks are loaded with cholesterol.

Sodium:

Watch for foods with high sodium (salt) content. Food companies often add hidden salt to flavor their processed and packaged foods. If the Daily Value percentage is above 20% for a single serving of a particular food, consider a healthier option with less salt. Also, be very wary of showering your food with the salt shaker. Measure how much salt you are actually using, which will help you monitor your salt intake. Most shouldn't eat more than 2,300 mg, or 1 teaspoon total per day.

Total Carbohydrates:

There are several things to look for related to carbohydrates on a nutrition label. First, the type of carbohydrate is extremely important (see the Ingredients section below for more information). Second, keep on eye on foods and drinks with high sugar content. Sugars are basically empty calories (lots of calories and little nutritional value) so they often lead to weight gain. Aim to keep your sugar intake under 32 grams or 6% of your total calories per day.

You will also see Fiber content listed on the nutrition label under Carbohydrates. Fiber is great for your digestive health, so aim for between 25 and 35 grams each day. Fiber has a ton of health benefits, which include lowering cholesterol, preventing cancer, preventing constipation, and helping weight loss. Fiber also makes you feel more full so you often end up eating less.

Protein:

Protein is good, as long as you?re getting it from lean, healthy food sources such as poultry, fish, and other lean meats, low-fat dairy products, beans, nuts, etc.

Vitamins and Minerals:

Try and eat a wide variety of foods that are high in different types of vitamins and minerals. I also recommend taking a multi-vitamin supplement (such as One-a-Day) with close to 100% of the RDA for each vitamin listed.

Ingredients:

People often overlook the ingredients list on the bottom of a nutrition label. Take a close look at the ingredients listed. Look for natural ingredient names that you understand. The first ingredient listed on the ingredient list of a nutrition label composes the largest percentage of the food and so on. Make sure you avoid the following terms whenever possible:

1. High fructose corn syrup, fructose, glucose, dextrose - these are synthetic sugars derived from corn. They are a reason for many major health problems and many experts agree that they're one of the major contributors to today's obesity epidemic.

2. White Flour, Enriched Flour, Bleached White Flour, Wheat Flour* - eating too many refined carbohydrates raises blood sugar levels and increases blood fats called triglycerides, which puts you at much higher risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and obesity. Look for the words "whole wheat" or "whole grains" as one of the first ingredients on the nutrition label. This is how you know the food is made with mostly whole grains.

*Note that "Wheat Flour" is on the list above. This a deceptive way food companies get you to think you're eating healthy...a product could have 1% "wheat" and they can call it wheat flour. Look for whole wheat or whole grain listed as the first ingredient.

3. Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Phenylalkaline - these are artificial sweeteners that we don't know much about. Some early reports have said that they cause cancer but the bottom line is that there's not enough research to know either way...so avoid them.

4. Partially Hydrogenated or Hydrogenated Oil - these are trans fats and are terrible for you.

As a general rule, also stay away from any ingredients that sound like a chemistry experiment. Do you know what sodium nitrate is? Neither do I, so I prefer not to eat it. A shorter ingredient list with names you actually understand is what you?re looking for here.

Recap ? How to Read a Nutrition Label

Calories from fat - no more than 20-30% of per day of total fat consumption

Small amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats ("good fats") are good for your heart

Eat in moderation. Try and keep your total under 20 grams total per day

0 grams - these are horrible for you...stay away from them. Less than 2,300mg of sodium per day (equivalent of 1 tsp.) per day

Less than 32 grams or 6% of total calories per day of added sugar (sugar from natural sources like fruit is okay)

.36 grams per pound of body weight per day for the average person but largely dependent upon your fitness goals (i.e., for someone who is looking to gain lean muscle it is recommended to eat between .75 and 1 gram per pound of body weight)

Look for all natural ingredients and avoid ones that sound like a chemical equation. Avoid "high fructose corn syrup," "refined flour," artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated oils. The less ingredients listed, the better

Next: Counting Calories

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Health and Nutrition Facts

There are a great number of health and nutrition facts that are a "given". We are all aware of the many rules that have been handed down for generations about nutrition, but we ignore them. We know, "You are what you eat!" but we eat snack cakes and doughnuts and drink soda pop and chow down on corn dogs, anyway!

The very unfortunate thing about this is that the more we do it, the more we want to do it. Processed foods have an addictive quality that just causes people to never be satisfied. Eating poorly leads to lethargy and poor health that lead to even more lethargy and poor health. It's necessary to break the cycle and introduce whole nutrition to get our bodies clean, active and performing at optimum levels.

People often think that it's too much trouble to eat whole foods. Processed foods are pretty much pure poison, but they're cheap and convenient - or at least that's how they are marketed to us. However, if you take a step back and look at the hype, you are bound to see the truth. Even though a lot of preparation of processed foods has been done for you, a lot of that preparation consists of things you would never choose to do yourself, such as the addition of chemicals, artificial colors, central nervous system wrecking hydrogenated oils, and diabetes producing high fructose corn syrup.

Whole foods are truly convenient! Fresh fruits and vegetables come in handy, natural, often consumable packaging. Preparing the most healthful whole foods takes the least amount of work and cooking for the greatest amount of nutrition and true, wholesome flavor. Although whole foods may cost a little bit more to buy, you will surely see your doctor bills reduced when you change your diet from ground up chemicals and additives to simple, pure, whole food.

When you eat processed foods, your body has to struggle to try to get rid of all the junk that's ground into processed products. On top of that, your body has to try to sustain life on a severely depleted level of nutrition found in dead ingredients. This is a drain on your energy that causes you to just want to sit around and do nothing. The more inactive your are, the lower your metabolism level will be and the less calories you will burn. That's a great recipe for obesity, depression and poor health.

When you eat whole foods, your body works hard in a wholesome, healthful way. It gets natural exercise from processing whole natural foods and reaping every bit of nutrition and energy available. When you eat fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and other high quality protein sources, you are eating foods that are filled with life and that give you life. That spark of life will give you energy and make you want to get up, get out and live your life.

We all know, "You are what you eat!" So which would you rather be, a sluggish sack of chemicals and additives or a living, vibrant being filled with life?

Dr. Gladys Alvarez has spent over forty five years working in different Medical Fields to include Surgical Oncology, Research on Aids at one of our most prestigious universities as well as has been a correspondent who has traveled extensively around the world studying different lifestyles, cultures and their nutritional habits because she is committed to educate the consumer as to the benefits of living a happy, healthy lifestyle through fitness and weight loss. If you have found this article helpful, please visit my website at http://www.drkool.com/ TODAY!

Copyright (c) http://www.gladysalvarez.com/ All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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