Many of the nutrients our bodies need come from vegetables. An adult needs to consume 200-500 grams of vegetables daily to meet the body's needs. In daily life, people often choose vegetables based on price and taste, which is actually not very scientific. The nutritional value of vegetables is mainly determined by the amount of essential vitamins, iron, salt, and fiber they contain.
Scientists have found through analyzing the nutritional content of various vegetables that the color of vegetables is closely related to their nutritional value. Darker-colored vegetables are more nutritious than lighter-colored ones, in the order of "green vegetables - yellow and red vegetables - colorless vegetables".
Scientists have also discovered that among vegetables of the same type, different colors mean different nutritional values. Yellow carrots are more nutritious than red carrots. In addition to containing a large amount of carotene, they also contain flavonoids, which have a strong anti-cancer effect and can help prevent cancer.
Scientists have also found that on the same plant, different parts have different nutritional values due to their color. The green part of a scallion is much more nutritious than the white part. Every 100 grams of the green part contains 1750 international units of Vitamin A, while the white part contains almost no Vitamin A, and its content of Vitamin B1 and Vitamin C is less than half of that in the green part. The greener celery leaves contain 6 times more carotene and 4 times more Vitamin D than the lighter-colored celery leaves and stems.
Since each vegetable contains different types and amounts of nutrients, and the human body has diverse nutritional needs, when selecting vegetables, in addition to paying attention to the color depth, one should also consider eating a variety of vegetables in combination with meat.