Filed under: Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
Last week I suggested, chlorella as a great green way to nutritionally participate in St. Paddy’s Day (particularly to detox after too much green beer), and in continuing with our green theme, I would like to introduce a favourite leafy green: swiss chard.
Swiss chard is actually a member of the beet family, although, unlike beets, we only tend to eat the greens rather than the root. Swiss chard is an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, vitamin K,vitamin E, folic acid, selenium and has about as much vitamin C as an orange. It’s also a good source of calcium, potassium, iron and zinc. Swiss chard is a good source of the B vitamin niacin, which is helpful in keeping that cholesterol count low and those energy levels up.
Leafy greens, including Swiss chard, are great sources of a phytonutrient category called carotenes. This includes beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A and an antioxidant in its own right. Swiss chard also contains the carotene phytonutrients zeaxanthin and lutein, both vitally important for eye health and found to decrease chances of suffering macular degeneration. Lutein has been shown in studies to prevent and reverse, to a certain extent, issues with immunity, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Continue reading Swiss Chard: A Leafy Green Packed With Nutrients