One thing all nutrition plans or diets agree on is veggies. Vegetables are so crucial to optimum health and performance. Veggies and fruits too are full of vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients including antioxidants, anthocyanins, and polyphenols to name a few. We could dive into details on what that all means, however I'm here to give you the cliff notes and provide you some detailed references for further reading at the bottom if your science so desires.
In our information overload society these days so many things contradict each other. My science brain loves to dissect the bits and pieces. In the end am I left with any better tools to actually go about my day to provide this body with the sustenance it requires to function at its best? For after all food is life and we need it. Our bodies are highly adaptive to many different food intake regimens, from a pizza and burger routine to a raw vegan routine and anywhere in between or on the fringe. One of the few things mostly all diets or nutrition plans can agree on is we don't eat enough veg. Vegetables and fruits nourish our bodies and our cells with immensely important phytonutrients to keep us functioning optimally.
Most of us walk around not even aware of how possibly good we could feel. I remember thinking I feel great, just fine. And then my eyes were opened as I started to incorporate more fresh plant based foods, especially of the colorful variety into my life. In addition to all the wonderful phytonutrients, these foods provide us with essential fibers. We have more microbe cells in our gut and on us then we do our own human cells. What's incredible is those little bugs help digest the food, breaking it down into even more useful substances for our bodies.
Vegetables are essential to keep us living long, healthy and active. Most diseases could be avoided at the high rates we are seeing today if more of us ate an abundance of colorful plant foods. If jumping right into this salad makes you cringe, how can you incorporate even one more serving vegetables per day. Slowly add more.
This salad is adapted from Chris Wark's Giant Cancer Fighting Salad. My version is posted below. I also entered the ingredients into My Fitness Pal app and have included the macro and a few micronutrients. The breakdown is fairly accurate, however the database didn't have the exact mix of fresh home grown sprouts.
2 c Spring Mix
1 c Kale
1/2 c big sprouts (mix: lentil, adzuki, mung and pea)
1/2 c little sprouts (mix: broccoli, alfalfa, clover, radish)
1/2 c shredded raw beet
1/2 c ribboned raw carrot
2 radishes, chopped
1/2 c shredded red cabbage
1/4 c red bell pepper
1/4 c cherry tomatos
1/4 c homemade purple sauerkraut
1 tbl hemp seeds, no salt
1 tbl pumpkin seeds, no salt
1 tbl fresh parsley
Lemon juice, fresh
2-3 tsp olive oil
Spices to taste: Bragg's 24 herb, cayenne, black pepper, chopped fresh garlic, chopped fresh turmeric
This salad has 5 1/2 servings of vegetables using the USDA serving sizes. 20 grams of protein, mostly coming from the sprouts and seeds, however you can see how protein from veggies adds up quick. Packed with nutrients this salad contains 40% RDA Potassium, 500% Vitamin A, 440% Vitamin C, 32% Calcium and 42% Iron.
Other options to add or substitute: Sunflower seeds, zucchini sliced, celery sliced or chopped, sea vegetables, raw fennel bulb chopped, chopped or shredded jicama, finely chopped red onion, sweet onion, green onions, fresh cilantro, cooked quinoa, garbanzo beans, black beans, any other legume. Let your creativity run wild! Experiment and have fun!
References and Deeper Dive:
Giant Cancer Fighting Salad
Eat to Beat Disease
Eight servings of veggies a day is clearly best for the heart