Dialogue With Dietitians: Importance of Daily Vegetables
A question from Dinesh Gandhi:
Since we are all Vegetarian, can you please include importance of leafy vegetables in our daily meal?
(examples: Methi, Palak, Tandaljo, Suva, and more)
So, we ask our dietitians, can you provide us nutritional values and importance of eating such vegetables in the comments below? If other participants have any questions, please also leave a comment below.
Thanks!
Category: Dialogue With Dietitians, Nutrition
August 10th, 2012 at 12:38 am
Yes the vitamins of these leafy vegetables are very volatile as well as they are water soluble. These vegetables do not take too long to cook so first cook everything else and at the very end wilt down these vegetables, add tomatoes or lemon juice and switch off the gas. You want to also avoid overlooking to conserve their bright green color.
Thx!
Jigna.
August 9th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
When we cook spinachwith other vegetables and lentils making a curry.Will cooking the dish for long time deplete the vitamins etc inthe vegetables.ex half an hour.
August 9th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Hello Mr. Gandhi,
Thanks for asking the question.
1) Most dark green leafy vegetables (DGLV) have tons of nutrients including vitamins such as vitamin A, C and K, minerals like calcium and iron, fiber, and phytonutrient such as Lutein.
2) Absorption: You can maximize the iron absorption from these vegetables by cooking them or consuming them with other vitamin C rich foods.
For example: Cook spinach with tomatoes or lemon juice or eat argula salad with 8 oz. 100% orange juice.
3) Serving size: 1 cup raw or 1/2 cooked vegetables is your one serving size.
4) Ways to incorporate DGLV in your diet: Saute vegetables as stir fry or eat as salad, baked kale chips in oven, add spinach puree in pudlas or theplas, use any of the green leafy vegetables in soups or sandwiches. You can certainly add spinach to moong dal or other curries.
Thanks!
Jigna Mehta, RD