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Lettuce!Essentially, iceberg lettuce simply looks pretty but only serves to take up space. The watery leaves contain almost no nutrients. The next time you find yourself at a salad bar, try the more nutritional greens – which we will run through for you now.Romaine Romaine is not your garden-variety lettuce, rather this celery-flavored green is one of the best vegetable sources of beta-carotene. It contains 712 micrograms per cup. High levels of beta-carotene can aid in the inhibited growth of prostate-cancer cells by as much as 50-percent. Serving Suggestions: Toss it with croutons, diced tomato, avocado, and slices of red onion. Cover with a light Parmesan ranch dressing and top with black olives. Arugula Calcium is the essential nutrient in arugula. One cup of these mustard-flavored leaves has 10-percent of the bone-building mineral found in a glass of milk and 100-percent less saturated fat. There is also magnesium in every bite for more protection against osteoporosis. Serving suggestions: Add diced red or green apples, dried cranberries and dried blueberries. Douse the entire mixture with a dressing made of three parts extra-virgin olive oil and one part lemon juice. Watercress Watercress is a pepper-flavored HEPA filter for your body. Watercress contains a phytochemical that may prevent airborne pollutants from causing lung cancer. Serving suggestions: Mix with red onion, watermelon, cantaloupe and slivered almonds and top with equal amounts of lemon and orange juice. Endive Endive is slightly bitter and a little crisp. It offers twice the fiber of iceberg lettuce as a nutritional benefit. A cup of endive also provides almost 20-percent of your daily requirement of folate. People who do not get enough of this essential B vitamin may have a 50-percent greater risk of developing hard disease. Serving Suggestions: Mix endive with walnuts and bits of diced ripe pear. Top with low fat blue cheese dressing. Mustard Greens Packed with the amino acid tyrosine, these spicy, crunchy greens are beneficial in improving and protecting memory and concentration. Serving Suggestions: Mix the greens with snow peas and diced onion, ham and Muenster cheese. Top with sherry vinaigrette dressing. Bok Choy Think of this as a cabbage-flavored multivitamin. A bowl of bok choy has 23-percent of your daily requirement of vitamin A and a third of your vitamin C, along with three cancer-fighting phytochemicals: flavonoids, isothiocyanates, and dithiolthione. In short – it is very good for you. Serving Suggestions: Slice it thin and mix it with grated fresh ginger, orange slices, mushrooms and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with soy sauce and toss. Spinach Spinach is a top source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two powerful antioxidants that protect your vision from the ravages of aging. Serving Suggestions: Mix it with some chicken breast, black olives, peach slices and red bell pepper and top with honey-mustard dressing. Kohlrabi Kohlrabi tastes like something between cabbage and turnip. Each serving contains nearly 25-percent of your daily requirement of potassium (to help keep a lid on your blood pressure), along with glucosinolate, a phytochemical that may prevent some cancers. Serving Suggestions: Slice the bulb very thin and toss it with carrot slices, grated cabbage, diced celery, and chopped onions. Top with your favorite vinaigrette. Courtesy of FitnessandFreebies.com Back to Previous Page
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