Kale chips, arugula salad, sautéed spinach: leafy greens that have risen in popularity and reached star status as restaurant favorites, home-made smoothie regulars, and obligatory #healthyhabits posts on your Instagram feed.
Leafy greens are in. And no wonder they’re a SuperFood. These greens support our health conscious culture and serve as some of the very best foods to fuel your body with.
Take classic romaine lettuce: a common leafy green for salads, recognized by its light green color and crunchy bite. Romaine is loaded with folic acid, a form of vitamin B, along with potassium and vitamin C. Vitamin B has been found to correlate with increased male fertility and help depression. Vitamin C helps regulate blood pressure in women.
Another leafy green, prominent in a variety of dishes including salads, pastas and quiches, is spinach. This green is a bit darker in color and has high levels of potassium which regulates blood pressure and muscle functioning.
Other greens include arugula- peppery and full of calcium, kale- bitter and loaded with the powerful antioxidant lutein, and swiss chard- the one with those colored veins, contains the most vitamin K of all greens.
Don’t like salad? Check out these suggestions for incorporating leafy greens into your diet!
This month Campus Dining will feature the Lawnmower Smoothie at Lucy’s. It’s a blend of kale, Swiss chard, spinach, celery, cucumbers, orange juice and ginger. You’ll also find the Florentine Burrito loaded with scrambled eggs, baby spinach and sausage from Poly Deli. Mustang Station will have chicken spinach pesto pizza and Village Market will be serving a ham and Swiss crepe!
Fun Facts:
You can get an entire serving of fruits and vegetables in just a half cup of spinach!
In general, the darker the leafy green color, the more fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Kale contains a plant nutrient known as sulforaphane, which has been found to aid in cancer prevention.