In
the world of marketing, image is everything. If you’re James Franco or
Roger Federer or Taylor Swift, your name and face can be used to sell
anything from phones to watches to perfume—even if you’re not
necessarily famous for the your tech-savvy, your promptness, or the way
you smell.
In
the food world, the biggest celebrity of all might be kale—the Shakira
of salads, the Lady Gaga of leafy greens. It’s universally recognized
that kale anything—kale chips, kale pesto, kale face cream—instantly
imparts a health halo. Even 7-Eleven is making over its image by
offering kale cold-pressed juices. And yes, kale has plenty of
benefits—including high levels of folate and more calcium, gram for
gram, than a cup of milk. (It’s head and shoulders above these items
found in our Eat This, Not That! Special Report: “Health” Foods Worse for You Than a Donut.)
Still, kale’s actually not the healthiest green on the block. In fact, in a recent report
published by the Centers for Disease Control that ranked 47 “powerhouse
fruits and vegetables,” kale placed only 15th (with 49.07 points out of
100 for nutrient density)! Here’s a roundup of the 10 leafy green
cousins that researchers say pack a greater nutritional wallop. Read
’em, eat ’em, and reap the benefits.
SUPERFOOD #10 Collard Greens
Nutrition Score: 62.49
A
staple vegetable of Southern U.S. cuisine, collard greens also boast
incredible cholesterol-lowering benefits — especially when steamed. A
recent study published in the journal Nutrition Research
compared the effectiveness of the prescription drug Cholestyramine to
steamed collards. Incredibly, the collards improved the body’s
cholesterol-blocking process by 13 percent more than the drug! Of
course, that won’t do you any good if you insist on serving them with
ham hocks.
SUPERFOOD #9 Romaine Lettuce
Nutrition Score: 63.48
Even more so than its
cousin kale, the humble Romaine lettuce packs high levels of folic acid,
a water-soluble form of Vitamin B that’s proven to boost male
fertility. A study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility
found supplemental folic acid to significantly increase sperm counts.
Get the man in your life to start craving Caesar salads, and you may
soon have a baby Julius on board. (Ladies, this green packs health
benefits for you, too! Folate also plays a role in battling depression,
so change out your kale for Romaine and, while you’re at it, stock up on
these other 8 Foods That Boost Your Mood.)
SUPERFOOD #8 Parsley
Nutrition Score: 65.59
Yes,
that leafy garnish that sits on the side of your plate—the one they
throw away after you eat the rest of your meal—is a quiet superfood, so
packed with nutrients that even that one sprig can go a long way toward
meeting your daily requirement for vitamin K. Moreover, research
suggests the summer-y aroma and flavor of chopped parsley may help
control your appetite. A study in the journal Flavour
found participants ate significantly less of a dish that smelled
strongly of spice than a mildly scented version of the same food. Adding
herbs, like parsley, creates the sensory illusion that you’re indulging
in something rich—without adding any fat or calories to your plate.
SUPERFOOD #7 Leaf Lettuce
Nutrition Score: 70.73
The
nutritional Clark Kent of the salad bar, this common and unsuspecting
leafy green is ready to take its place among the superfoods. Two generous cups of lettuce provides 100 percent of your daily vitamin K requirement for strong, healthy bones. A report
from the Nurses’ Health Study suggests that women who eat a serving of
lettuce every day cut the risk of hip fracture by 30 percent than when
compared with eating just one serving a week.
SUPERFOOD #6 Chicory
Nutrition Score: 73.36
Chicory
is a family of bitter greens, but its most well-known member is
radicchio, the small red or purple leaf that comes in a head about the
size of a softball. It’s one of the best dietary sources of
polyphenols—powerful micronutrients that serve a role in preventing
disease. A study in the Journal of Nutrition
found that people who consume 650 mg a day of polyphenols have a 30
percent chance at living longer than those who consume less than that. A
cup of chicory leaves clocks in at about 235 mg (double that of spinach!), so consider adding a little leafy red into your leafy greens.
SUPERFOOD #5 Spinach
Nutrition Score: 86.43
Spinach
is to kale what Michael Jordan is to LeBron James—the once unrivaled
king now overshadowed by the hot new thing. But like MJ, spinach has a
few more championship rings than its more current rival—primarily its
position as a top source of biceps-building iron. According
to the United States Department of Agriculture, a 180 gram serving of
boiled spinach provides 6.43 mg of the muscle mineral—that’s more than a
6 oz hamburger patty! Recent research also suggest compounds in the
leaf membranes called thylakoids may serve as a powerful appetite
suppressant. A recently published long-term study
at Lund University in Sweden found that having a drink containing
thylakoids before breakfast could significantly reduce cravings and
promote weight loss. On average, the women who took the spinach extract
lost 5.5 pounds more than the placebo group over the course of three
months.
SUPERFOOD #4 Beet Greens
Nutrition Score: 87.08
Yes, the stuff they cut off and throw in the garbage before charging you an arm and a leg for “beet salad.” A scant cup of the bitter green serves up nearly 5 grams of fiber—that’s more than you’ll find in a bowl of Quaker oats! Researchers at the University of Leeds found
that risk of cardiovascular disease was significantly lower for every 7
grams of fiber consumed. Try them in stir frys and eat to your heart’s
content!
SUPERFOOD #3 Chard
Nutrition Score: 89.27
Chard. Sounds
like “burnt.” It’s not as fun a name to drop as, say, “broccolini,” but
it might be your best defense against diabetes. Recent research
has shown that these powerhouse leaves contain at least 13 different
polyphenol antioxidants, including anthocyanins–anti-inflammatory
compounds that could offer protection from type 2 diabetes. Researchers
from the University of East Anglia analyzed questionnaires and blood
samples of about 2,000 people and found that those with the highest
dietary intakes of anthocyanins had lower insulin resistance and better
blood glucose regulation.
SUPERFOOD #2 Chinese Cabbage
Nutrition Score: 91.99
Taking
the silver medal in the powerfood Olympics is Chinese cabbage, also
called Napa or celery cabbage. Rich sources of highly available calcium
and iron, cruciferous vegetables like the cabbage have the powerful
ability to “turn off” inflammation markers thought to promote heart
disease. In a study of more than 1,000 Chinese women, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, those who ate the most cruciferous vegetables (about 1.5 cups per day) had 13 percent less inflammation than those who ate the fewest.
SUPERFOOD #1 Watercress
Nutrition Score: 100
The
top dog, the unrivaled champion, the chairman of the cutting board,
watercress may also be the closest thing yet to a true anti-aging food.
Gram for gram this mild-tasting and flowery-looking green contains four times more beta carotene than an apple,
and a whopping 238 percent of your daily recommended dose of vitamin K
per 100 grams — two compounds that keep skin dewy and youthful. The
beauty food is also the richest dietary source of PEITC (phenylethyl isothiocyanate), which research suggests can fight cancer. Results from an eight-week trial published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
suggest daily supplementation of 85 grams of raw watercress (that’s
about two cups) could reduce DMA damage linked to cancer by 17 percent.
Exposure to heat may inactivate PEITC, so it’s best to enjoy watercress raw in salads, cold-pressed juices, and sandwiches.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/health/
