"Eat more vegetables, with dark-colored vegetables making up at least half of the total." Which vegetables are considered dark-colored? How can you eat vegetables healthily? If you're curious, then follow along! What are dark-colored vegetables?
Dark-colored vegetables refer to those that are dark green, red, orange-red, or purplish-red. Common dark green vegetables include: spinach, rape (cole), celery leaves, water spinach, mustard greens, broccoli, crown daisy, chives, and radish tops.
Common red and orange-red vegetables include: tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, red chili peppers, etc. Common purplish-red vegetables include: red amaranth, red cabbage, Houttuynia cordata, etc. It's best to eat dark-colored vegetables cooked.
The ideal way to eat vegetables is to consume most dark-colored vegetables cooked and light-colored, crisp, and tender vegetables raw. The temperature should not be too high, and cooking methods should be light and low in oil. The benefits of eating cooked vegetables are:
1. It improves the utilization of vitamin K and carotenoids in green leafy and orange-yellow vegetables, as these two substances are only soluble in fats. Heat cooking softens the cell walls, promoting the dissolution of carotene and lycopene, thereby increasing absorption rates.
2. It improves the utilization of calcium and magnesium in vegetables. During cooking processes like blanching, stir-frying, or cold dressing, most oxalic acid can be removed.
3. It significantly increases the amount of vegetables consumed. Although raw eating doesn't lose nutrients, it's difficult to increase the total quantity consumed. If the requirement is to eat 500 grams of vegetables daily, it's very difficult to meet this requirement by eating them all raw. However, if half are cooked, reaching this target becomes much easier.
4. Cooking softens fiber, which is beneficial for those with a weak stomach, indigestion, bloating, or chronic diarrhea.
5. Eating cooked vegetables is more hygienic. Heat can kill bacteria and insect eggs, and even E. coli cannot withstand the洗礼 of boiling water or hot oil. Some anti-nutritional factors and oxidizing enzymes that destroy vitamins can also be inactivated during the heating process.
Dark-colored vegetables are highly nutritious
Leafy vegetables are the primary source of calcium, carotene, iron, riboflavin, ascorbic acid, and fiber in the Chinese diet, and are almost a must-have dish for every meal.
Generally, the darker the color of the leafy vegetable, the more calcium, iron, carotene, vitamin B2, and vitamin C it contains. For example, leafy vegetables like rape (qingcai), wutai (takai), shepherd's purse, and suihong (jiacai) contain between 140-420 mg of calcium, 1.4-6.3 mg of iron, 3.05-3.20 mg of carotene, 0.14-1.11 mg of vitamin B2, and 51-83 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. This is far more than light-colored Chinese cabbage (huayacai), which contains only 41-61 mg of calcium, 0.5-0.6 mg of iron, 0.1-0.4 mg of carotene, 0.04 mg of vitamin B2, and 19-20 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. They are also richer than medium-colored vegetables like cabbage (baocai, yangbaicai, lianhuabai) and seedling cabbage (jimaocai). The calcium and iron content in dark leaves is generally 1-2 times to several dozen times higher than in light leaves, while the carotene, vitamin B2, and vitamin C content is 5-10 times or more than 10 times higher. The thinner the leaves of leafy vegetables, the higher their nutritional content.
Cooking demonstration for dark-colored vegetables
Boiled Kai-lan: Cut kai-lan into sections and blanch in boiling water until cooked. Remove and dip in soy sauce, vinegar, or chili sauce. From a health perspective, the plainer the better.
Water Douchi with Pumpkin: Use a Japanese Kinsan pumpkin, about 1500 grams, which has a reddish-yellow color and a not-very-sweet, powdery texture. Cut the pumpkin into long strips. Heat a sand pot with a little oil, sauté minced ginger until fragrant, add the pumpkin strips and stir-fry. Add water douchi, a small amount of salt and soy sauce, then add half a bowl of non-sweet rice wine. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the liquid is reduced and the pumpkin is soft.