Whole Foods Information

The Value of Vegetables

Beth Loiselle, RD

“Eat your veggies!”  We’ve heard it for years and we know it well.  Vegetables help make a body healthy.  But do we practice what we know?  Do we actually eat the recommended three to five servings (or preferably many more) every day?  If not, then based on plenty of scientific evidence, we will probably be in for medical problems down the road if we aren’t already afflicted with them.  Why wait until problems occur or even later when we’re desperate for a solution to our health problems?  No matter what other dietary restrictions we have or choose to follow, eating a wide variety of vegetables, and in abundant quantities, is necessary if we expect or hope to remain in good health over the years.  

Just why are vegetables so highly rated?  Let’s briefly go over several reasons – many of them will be a review for you – but you might not be familiar with them all.

1. Vitamins and Minerals: Vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals we need for good health.  Organically grown vegetables generally have more minerals than chemically grown ones.

2. Antioxidants: Vegetables provide, in addition to vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and sometimes selenium, literally thousands of phytonutrients that also act as antioxidants in the body to help squelch out disease-causing free radicals.  If you select vegetables of various colors rather than the same color over and over, you can be assured of a variety of phytonutrients.

3. Enzymes: Raw vegetables contain valuable enzymes – and possibly even other unidentified factors – that are destroyed when vegetables are cooked.  Eat many of your vegetables raw.

4. Alkalinity:  Vegetables play an important role in helping keep our body in its highly beneficial slightly alkaline pH state by providing plenty of alkaline-forming minerals. Even though our body has a built-in mechanism for keeping the alkaline-acid state somewhat balanced, a poor diet of mostly acid-forming meats, grains, and sugars (this describes the typical American diet!) over-taxes this mechanism and robs minerals from the body, including bones to keep the pH in a reasonable, but not optimal, balance.  Less than optimal pH are more likely to be present in those with osteoporosis, cancer, arthritis, and other degenerative diseases.  

5. Nutrient Dense: Many vegetables are considered to be nutrient dense; that is, they contain many valuable nutrients in relation to the number of calories they provide.  In general, the deeper the color, the more nutrients vegetables contain.

6. Energy: Starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn all contain complex carbohydrates, which help supply us with energy.

7. Fiber: Most vegetables provide fiber and, of course, the less we process them, the better.  For instance, when we peel potatoes, we peel away most of their fiber along with the valuable minerals present just under the skin.  Juicing also eliminates fiber.

If you’re counting on supplements to actually take the place of your vegetables (I’ve had people tell me this) – then you’re fooling yourself.  While it is possible to buy various supplements that provide vitamins and minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, and even enzymes, realize that there’s more to veggies than the sum of their parts.  Technology is not capable of incorporating all the components that are naturally present in whole foods.  Now is the time to start increasing our vegetable intake.  Don’t wait until it’s too late!

© 2000 by Beth Loiselle, RD, LD