Eating raw vegetables is the healthiest, tomatoes can be snacks, potatoes make you gain weight... Is that really the case? The answer might surprise you! With their low-calorie and nutritionally complete characteristics, vegetables have become synonymous with health and slimness. But is it foolproof to just eat vegetables? 1. Eat them even if you have to hold your nose
As the saying goes, "Radishes and cabbages, each has its own lover." People's attitudes towards various vegetables vary greatly. Why? Research has confirmed that the same vegetable tastes different in people with different taste-blind genotypes (genes that perceive taste). For example, some people find spinach very astringent, while others don't think bitter gourds are that bitter. This way, what one person sees as sweet nectar is another's bitter medicine, leading to huge differences in preferences for vegetables, which can't be forced.
Furthermore, people's tolerance for vegetables varies. People with digestive ulcers or inflammatory bowel disease cannot eat irritating, fiber-rich, gas-producing vegetables like chives, radishes, green beans, and zanthoxylum sprouts. There are also allergic reactions to vegetables like chives, onions, garlic, rapeseed, celery, and spinach. In mild cases, people may experience fatigue, drowsiness, irritability, nausea, and shortness of breath after eating. In severe cases, there can be vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, mistaken for gastroenteritis. When you experience physical discomfort of varying degrees or gastrointestinal symptoms after eating the same vegetable several times, you should avoid eating it in the future. This is truly "a twisted melon is not sweet"!
2. Vegetables = Vitamins
"Eating vegetables is to supplement the vitamins the human body needs?" Shh, keep it down! If the various vegetables heard this, they would surely be furious at your lack of appreciation! It's like entering a lush forest and not smelling the flowers or hearing the birds, seeing only timber.
Why eat vegetables? The existence of the traditional seven major nutrients and the modern thousands of phytochemicals is not enough to summarize the goodness of vegetables. Because their natural combination can only be obtained in the original state. Every vegetable and every fruit is so wonderful; it's not as simple as competing over which vitamin is higher.
Only by eating, and eating frequently and comprehensively, can you fully obtain the nourishment from vegetables. They are what they are, not just vitamins. 3. Tomatoes are most suitable as fruit snacks
Tomatoes are clearly vegetables, but some people like to eat them raw as fruits and snacks. Diabetics eat them, and so do people on diets; they eat them when hungry, and even when full. Tomatoes say, this way of eating is not very safe.
Tomatoes taste sour because they are rich in organic acids. Eating them on an empty stomach increases the acidity in the stomach, which not only threatens the digestive tract mucosa that lacks the protection of food chyme but also stimulates appetite, causing dieting dreams to fall flat. Therefore, tomatoes are not suitable as snacks. Furthermore, tomatoes are rich in lycopene, and the absorption of this component depends on the dissolution by food fat. It's only good after being stir-fried with oil. Hence, eating raw tomatoes is not suitable when you are hungry, nor for those with already fragile gastrointestinal functions.
4. Potatoes ruin your good figure
There are many vegetables like potatoes, including taro, Chinese yam, lotus root, water chestnut, and even lily. In the eyes of many, they are not vegetables but should be grouped with pancakes and rice. The energy content of potatoes is roughly 1/4 that of grains and 4 times that of various leafy vegetables (by the same weight); however, taking potatoes as an example, their vitamin C content is not only higher than that of grains but also higher than mung bean sprouts, toon, cabbage, spinach, and even rapeseed. In terms of nutritional value, potatoes have a dual nature. It's no wonder the French call them "apples of the ground."
People who want to lose weight should eat more potatoes and various root and stem vegetables. There are three reasons:
1. They can increase satiety. Potatoes contain a lot of water and dietary fiber, and their energy content by the same weight is 4 times that of grain-based staples. 2. They can stabilize blood sugar. Unlike staple foods made from refined grains, the starch in potatoes is absorbed slowly in the body, releasing energy more persistently and making you feel full longer. 3. They can replenish deficiencies. Besides energy, potatoes are also rich in nutrients. They are both grain and vegetable, with effects of harmonizing the middle energizer, strengthening the spleen, replenishing qi, and strengthening the body. However, french fries and potato chips have been demonized, so it's better to eat less of them.
5. The youth of vegetables can also be preserved
The youth of vegetables, like that of a woman, cannot be preserved. Whether refrigerated or sealed, it's better to eat them fresh.
As the number of storage days increases, the vitamins in vegetables will gradually be lost and destroyed. In contrast to the loss of nutrition, the nitrite content in vegetables gradually increases with prolonged storage. This substance can convert normal hemoglobin into methemoglobin, losing its oxygen-carrying capacity. Acute nitrite poisoning can cause cyanosis and shortness of breath, while its long-term chronic carcinogenic effect is even more alarming. Furthermore, tender vegetables are prone to growing mold, producing various mycotoxins. These not only adhere to the surface but can also penetrate deep inside, and even heating cannot remove them.
6. Vegetables are your only
Nowadays, many vegetarians mainly eat vegetables, never consuming meat, or even eggs and milk. In fact, vegetables can be the favorite, or even the only food, for cattle and sheep. But we are not cattle or sheep. No matter how good vegetables are, we cannot ignore our own nutritional needs and favor them exclusively.
A completely vegetarian diet poses at least three threats to the human body: First, a lack of necessary cholesterol, which is an important substance for the human body to synthesize bile acids, adrenal cortical hormones, sex hormones, and vitamin D. Second, protein intake may be insufficient, leading to a weak physique and worrying physical and energy levels. Third, a severe lack of zinc. Most vegetables lack zinc, and zinc ensures a sound immune function. Those who lack it are prone to getting sick repeatedly.
Those who favor vegetables often prefer stir-fried dishes and don't eat grains. It should be noted that water-rich vegetables have air-filled cells between them, so they absorb oil more easily. The amount of oil in a plate of stir-fried vegetables is often more than in a plate of fried fish or fried ribs. Using the oil from stir-fried dishes to fill your stomach instead of grains will make your dietary structure deviate even further from the right path.
Many white-collar workers are busy with their jobs and often rely on fast food, making it difficult to ensure they get enough vegetables every day. Many companies have seen this business opportunity. For example, Kagome has launched a new vegetable concentrate juice, "Manriu Shu," made from the 500 grams of vegetables a person needs in a day, including carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, asparagus, cabbage, and 7 other vegetables. It contains no additives and reduces the astringent taste of vegetables to a minimum while preserving their mellow and delicious flavor.
7. Wanting to whiten skin = eat more vegetables
Girls with dewy skin all love to eat crisp vegetables. Their creed is "eating more vegetables can whiten the skin." However, many vegetables also collude with sunlight, intending to harm our dewy fair skin. Be vigilant.
Photosensitive vegetables—such as white radish, celery, cilantro, and holy basil—contain photosensitive substances that, after passing through the skin under light, promote pigment deposition and worsen the formation of skin spots. What if you want to eat them? Either protect yourself properly from the sun, or eat them at night, giving your body a few hours to metabolize them without issue.
There are also "photosensitive vegetables"—such as thistle, amaranth, lamb's quarters, mustard, rapeseed, spinach, pickled cabbage, milk vetch, Malan head, buckwheat, lettuce, Agrimonia, and fig. They all grow in sunny seasons. The photosensitive substances they contain generate photochemical products under light. The antigens converted from these are enough to trigger varying degrees of skin allergies, namely phytophotodermatitis. Such cases are not uncommon in hospitals.
8. Eating raw vegetables is the healthiest
Eating raw vegetables is so popular, and people firmly believe this can avoid nutrient loss from cooking. The problem is, without processing, nutrients are preserved, but so are toxic and harmful substances.
For example, cruciferous vegetables contain small amounts of goitrogenic substances, which interfere with the thyroid's absorption and utilization of iodine. Cauliflower, like other cruciferous vegetables, also contains small amounts of goitrogenic substances. Similarly, radishes, soybeans, and other cruciferous vegetables produce a thyroid-toxic substance called thiocyanate through metabolism, which can cause insufficient thyroid hormone secretion and compensatory enlargement of the thyroid. These thyroid-killing substances from vegetables are afraid of heat. Stopping large-scale raw consumption and proper cooking can effectively avoid these dangers. Blanching and mixing with sauce, quick stir-frying, or making vegetable soups and fillings are cooking methods that both preserve nutrients and reduce toxins, helping to maintain harmony between vegetables and us.
9. Vegetables are not distinguished by nature and constitution
Vegetables are not all the same. Their nature and flavor vary, and like fruits, they need to be chosen according to one's constitution. Most vegetables are neutral or slightly cool in nature, suitable for all constitutions.
Onions, ginger, garlic, and chili are known for their warm and pungent nature. Chives, cilantro, fennel, mustard, and toon have the same properties, mainly promoting the release of exterior energy. Therefore, they are not suitable for those with yin deficiency and internal heat, sores, herpes, or eye diseases. Cold-natured vegetables include winter melon, bitter gourd, kelp, bamboo shoots, cucumber, and bottle gourd. Such a nature is definitely not suitable for people with a weak spleen and stomach, insufficient yang energy, or loose stools. However, cooking can change the nature of vegetables. For example, deep-fried toon is like adding oil to fire, while an iced vegetable salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, wood ear, bitter gourd, etc.) is adding cold to cold. It depends on your choice.
10. Multi-pesticide vegetables have hidden dangers
We love to eat cowpeas, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, amaranth, chili, and eggplant, and pests love them too. Especially cowpeas and eggplants. To "snatch food from the mouths of pests," a large amount of pesticides must be applied. Therefore, these vegetables have the problem of pesticide residues, affecting food safety. Vegetables like pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, onion, crown daisy, green onion, cilantro, lettuce, and tomato are much safer because they don't need to be sprayed with pesticides to repel insects.
Furthermore, the application of chemical fertilizers is an essential means of modern agriculture, but it poses a potential threat to health from vegetable products. For example, nitrogen fertilizer increases the nitrate content in plants. The nitrate pollution levels in roots, stems, and leaves are far higher than in flowers, fruits, and seeds. Therefore, try to eat more gourds, fruits, beans, and edible fungi, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, edamame, and shiitake mushrooms. If you really like to eat leafy vegetables, don't be too hard on yourself. Supplement with some vitamin C to block the formation of nitrites and reduce the potential danger of leafy vegetables.