Non-starchy vegetables - daily goals, benefits and tips to get your gut in a good place...12/3/2024
Not only do fruits and vegetables give us a range of beneficial phytochemicals (plant chemicals) including antioxidants, research shows that eating 600g or more of non-starchy vegetables daily activates a switch on most of the cells within our body to upregulate over 500 different genes involved in gut function, anti-inflammatory, improved immune function and regulation, reduced oxidative damage, enhanced detoxification, cellular health and more! In the gut specifically, using non-starchy vegetables to ‘wake up’ our cellular function will result in production of our own natural antibiotics - to balance the types of microorganisms residing in our intestines; increase protective mucus production; support motility and regular bowel movements and more. Phytochemicals refer to special health-promoting chemicals ONLY found in plants foods. There may be up to 10,000 different ones identified. Aim to eat a rainbow of colours for different benefits – try to add slightly different foods to your shopping basket each week and rotate. Which are the best vegetables to include? 1. Green Leafy vegetables – select a wide variety
Interesting benefits of eating greens include:
Make a salad: Keep salads interesting by varying their colours, textures and varieties. Or keep it simple and enjoy a green salad as an entrée before a meal. Blitz up green salad dressings, dips and vegie drizzles: inspiration and recipes can be found HERE. Wrap it up: Pair your favourite protein (red meat, chicken, turkey, canned fish, egg, tofu, tempeh) with cos lettuce, spinach, rocket, and other veggies for some extra flavour – roasted vegetables such as pumpkin, capsicum and eggplant are great in wraps and sandwiches, plus grated carrot and alfalfa sprouts. Pesto adds to a delicious combination! Add to soup: Add greens with larger, tougher leaves such as English spinach, kale, collard greens or mustard greens into your favourite soup. Stir-fry: Add Asian Greens such as Bok Choy, Choy Sum, Pak Choy etc. Steamed: Steaming greens until they are slightly soft. The addition of a garlic or herb-infused olive oil adds a nice touch. In an omelette, scrambled eggs, frittata or egg-muffin: Don’t forget greens in your egg-based dishes. 2. Cruciferous vegetables
Interesting benefits of eating cruciferous vegetables include:
Add to salad: Lightly roasted broccoli (or brussels sprouts) and garlic in salad, cabbage in a slaw or chopped roughly and fried with onion and garlic then mixed with greens, nuts, seeds and a sprinkle of currants, thinly sliced radish adds a nice kick. Prepare kale like a chef: kale leaves are often tough. You can pre-soften them by chopping roughly and removing any tough stalk, then add 50:50 olive oil and an acid such as lemon or lime juice or vinegar plus a good sprinkle of salt and pepper then massage the leaves with your hands until soft. Adjust acid to taste - DELICIOUS! Add to soup: Most of these vegetables would make great additions to soups. Stir-fry: Broccoli, cabbage, thinly sliced brussels sprouts, cauliflower and Asian greens e.g. Bok Choy Mash: Turnips and Kohlrabi can be steamed then turned into mash (alone or add to your favourite mashed vegetables e.g. potato, carrot, pumpkin). Make a Buddha Bowl: Google for inspiration. Buddha bowls are great ways to add lots of vegetables with protein, starch and fat of choice. A personal fav is a Burrito bowl with black or kidney beans (mixed with canned tomatoes and spices), kale with lemon (see above tip on preparing kale) mixed with red cabbage, a big wedge of roasted pumpkin, left-over vegetables, rice and a protein plus guacamole. 3. All other colourful vegetables – select a wide variety - e.g.
I hope this helps. Warmest, Amanda Moon x Comments are closed.
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