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Rating Rutabagas You Should Try Them All.You Should Try Here’S Great to Veggies...And Our Good of Ranking Why Ten Top the Reasons Over Dinner

Rating Rutabagas You Should Try Them All.You Should Try Here’S Great to Veggies...And Our Good of Ranking Why Ten Top the Reasons Over Dinner

Photo: © Olga Lyubkina/fotolia.com. I Rating you should try them all.you should try Here’s great to veggies...and our good of ranking why ten top the reasons over dinner. at celery instead and corn, peas of instead white of potatoes, sweet potatoes over Caesar, orbroccoli over green beans lunch. for you Or might gowith matter. rankings But might They lead you pick to shabby too not but perhaps, either. finisheswho the in last say, aturnip oracucumber. They’re like Olympic an athlete The information for this article was compiled by Melissa Pryputniewicz. by Melissa compiled was article this for information The the veggies for that. veggies the But you blame can’t or cheese. dressing, ,salad oil, , in or zucchini rots or car- their dousing by calories up the bump people many Granted, cells. up your filling without full you feeling may bite.keep That per have calories few just around dos—hover avoca- and beans, lima potatoes, sweet exceptions—like the Even screen. radar on the register barely numbers those potatoes, baked or loaded fries French world today’s In of 600-calorie serving. have Most that tracked roughly 84,000 women and women and 84,000 roughly tracked that astudy In disease. of heart lower risk People who have eat more vegetables a for them. going nutrients some have vegetables less-stellar the But even eggplant). and mushrooms (like cousins less-nutritious tower overtheir greens) of them. little get too still people some but foods, other many in C—are and , , , , Others—like elsewhere. to find hard are — Kand vitamin nutrients—like Some . and minerals, , with packed are vegetables Most t’s think to of, one tough vegetables.wants poorly rank to No And vegetables are water-rich, so they they so water-rich, are vegetables And Granted, some vegetables (like leafy leafy (like vegetables some Granted, Not vegeta all 3. HeartDisease 2. Vitamins 1. Calories 10 to 50 calories per per 10 to calories 50 100 calories. calories. 100 100-meter world’s the dash. Not best BY BONNIE LIEBMAN &JAYNE HURLEY LIEBMAN BY BONNIE B le to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study. (DASH) to Stop Hypertension Approaches Dietary the in pressure blood lowered low-fat and dairy) fruits (as as well vegetables in rich diet healthy a and stroke, for factor risk strongest the is pressure adifference. makes veggies or other or spinach in else thing or some- , potassium, that possible But it’seat more vegetables. also trients in veggies that matters is unclear. is matters that veggies in trients ate only one or two servings aday. servings ate one or two only who typically those than disease heart an had a day of vegetables servings five or six averaged who those years, for men eight 42,000 with heart disease, but not cancer. disease, heart with diagnosed to be likely less were vegetables average of for an en wom and men 235,000 more than tracked In a meta-analysis of eight studies that fessionals for fessionals pro health male 38,000 nearly and nurses female of 72,000 nearly diets the amined ex that astudy in For example, traction. lost has of cancer lower risk bles the can vegeta that evidence the years, recent In those who ate less servings. three than than of stroke lower risk a7percent had more fivethan of servings vegetables aday S are createdS are equal That’s not surprising, since high blood blood high since not surprising, That’s people healthier because that’s Maybe Whether it’s the potassium or other nu- or other it’s potassium the Whether VEGGIE VS

18 percent lower risk of 18 lower risk percent 12 years, those who atethose 12 more years, 5. Cancer 4. Stroke 13 years, those who ate ACTION HEALTHLETTER 4 1 3 2 - - - - cancer shield. cancer in smokers). (chiefly larynx and pharynx, mouth, of the cancers and drinkers), heavy in common that’s (only kind the ), the cancer in esophageal uncommon is (which cancer of stomach at bay. risk Vegetableslower the may also colon cancer and breast may keep etables veg- cruciferous other and broccoli in the that studies) test-tube (mostly from evidence less far and cancer, prostate against , may protect alycopene-rich tomatoes, that evidence degeneration, which is the most common most common the is which degeneration, of macular risk the curb can pigment the that to suspect researchers some ing responsible. was lutein whether to determine evidence more it take would though studies, many in of cataracts have alower risk foods more lutein-rich who consume people And eye. of the lens the in carotenoids key the are itscousin and Lutein lutein. it has are odds it’sIf green, just has for example, banana, The much-praised sources. and other fish, chicken, whole grains, yogurt, , fruit, for true also But that’s of aday’s worth. roughly even potatoes—have sweet and potatoes, chard, Swiss spinach, broccoli, of vegetables—like a handful Only up milligrams. to 4,700 ratcheted recently was which for potassium, target density. bone boost It of stroke. may also risk the and pressure helpslower blood Potassium Just don’t expect veggies to be a general ageneral to be veggies don’tJust expect inconsistent— some—albeit is There The retina is also rich in lutein, lead- lutein, in rich also is retina The It isn’t easy to reach the latest daily ■ 5 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 6. Potassium 7. Lutein

10 percent 10 percent. > 13 VEGGIE VS VEGGIE

cause of blindness in older people. A large RankingS trial, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 RankingS (AREDS2), is now testing lutein supple- Superstars Love ’em ments (along with vitamins and fish oil) (Score = 150+) on macular degeneration. Not Exactly Anyway (Score = 0-49) 8. Chopped Liver (Score = 50-149) Green leafy vegetables—like kale, spin- ach, and collards—are the places to get vitamin K, which is best known for its role in blood clotting. (That’s why people who Kale, spinach, collards, and take Coumadin or other blood thinners other leafy greens are in a Okay, so they’re not brim- have to keep their vitamin K intake stable.) class of their own. But broc- ming with vitamins. But In recent years, researchers had suspect- coli, carrots, sweet potatoes, The midrange group there’s some preliminary evi- ed that vitamin K could also boost bone bell peppers, and most salad typically gets points from dence that allium vegetables density. But several trials have come up , vitamin K, lutein, like and garlic may empty.6 One did have an unexpected re- greens are also top-notch. and -. But you lower cancer risk. And who sult, however. Men (but not women) who They get such high scores can also get a nice dose of were given vitamin K (500 micrograms a largely because they’re rich knows? Maybe radishes or day) were less likely to become insulin- in lutein and beta-carotene, fiber from arti chokes, avo- mushrooms or cucumbers 7 resistant over three years. But it would which is visible in their green cado, green beans, and lima harbor some undiscovered take more research to know if vitamin K or orange color. But leafy beans. And asparagus, cauli- that can pre- can keep the body sensitive to insulin greens also supply vitamin K flower, celery, and okra pour vent or cure Alzheimer’s or and fend off diabetes. and some of just about ev- on the folate. arthritis or wrinkles. Bottom 9. Pesticides erything else (calcium, fiber, line: as long as they so folate, iron, and vitamin C). good, who cares? Okay, pesticides aren’t a reason to eat vegetables…but they’re no reason to avoid them either. You could try to sidestep all pesticides The Okra Show by going organic. Or you could just buy organic for vegetables that are most likely We calculated a score for each vegetable by adding up its percentage of: (1) the Dietary to have pesticides. According to data Reference Intake (DRI) for six nutrients, (2) the Daily Value (DV) for fiber, and (3) the daily tar- from the Environmental Working Group gets that we’ve devised for lutein and carotenoids other than lutein. For example, half a cup (foodnews.org), those include sweet bell peppers, celery, spinach, , and of cooked broccoli has 31 percent of our target for lutein and 26 percent of our target for potatoes. Among the cleanest: onions, other carotenoids, 11 percent of the DV for fiber, plus 100 percent of the DRI for vitamin K, avocado, frozen sweet corn, asparagus, 61 percent for vitamin C, 23 percent for folate (folic acid), 5 percent for potassium, and itestro). frozen sweet peas, , and broccoli. 3 percent each for calcium and iron. That gives it a score of 263 points. (See Nutrition Action, Jul./Aug. 2007, p. 5.) Calcium, iron, and folate were part of the score but don’t appear in our chart. Ditto for caro- 10. Taste tenoids other than lutein, which include alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lycopene. We Vegetables got a bad rap somewhere in the included lutein in the chart because of growing evidence that it may help prevent cataracts. Baloncici: onions © middle of the 20th century. Maybe it was There is no DRI for lutein, so we set our own (3,000 micrograms) by examining studies on those canned peas-and-carrots mixtures cataracts. (The DRIs—daily targets set by the Institute of Medicine—vary slightly by age and or that overcooked asparagus. Or per- gender. We picked the highest level for adults, excluding pregnant and lactating women.) haps it was those side —chunks of wilted iceberg lettuce plus a wedge or two Contains 100% or more of the Contains 10%-19% of the DRI of pulpy tomato smothered in Day-Glo

Olga Solovei: © (DRI) orange French or pink Thousand Island. Contains 5%-9% of the DRI Contains 20%-99% of the DRI Back then, few people thought about Contains less than 5% of the DRI

crisp steamed asparagus drizzled with vin- KEY aigrette, sweet potatoes baked so long that they taste like candy, and ginger Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) soup, or grilled portobellos. Those aren’t Calcium: 1,200 mg Iron: 18 mg Potassium: 4,700 mg

Photos: fotolia.com (kale © dishes you eat only because you should. Fiber: 25 g 1 Lutein: 3,000 mcg 2 Vitamin C: 90 mg 1 Ann. Intern. Med. 134: 1106, 2001. Folate: 400 mcg Other carotenoids: 3,000 mcg 2 Vitamin K: 120 mcg 2 Lancet 367: 320, 2006. 3 N. Engl. J. Med. 336: 1117, 1997. 1 2 4 J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 96: 1577, 2004. Daily Value. Nutrition Action figure based on available research. 5 Arch. Ophthalmol. 126: 354, 2008. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Data Laboratory (www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl). 6 J. Clin. Endocrin. Metab. 93: 1217, 2008. 7 Diabetes Care 31: 2092, 2008.

14 NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 BRAND-NAMEVEGGIE VS VEGGIE RATING VEgETaBLES VEg(3 oz.—½ET cup—cooked,a unlessB;ES noted)

Superstars (Score = 150 +) Score Calories Vitamin K Lutein Vitamin C Potassium Fiber Score Calories Vitamin K Lutein Vitamin C Potassium Fiber

Kale ( 2/3 cup) 1,389 20 92 30 (½) 89 50 Spinach 931 20 greens 733 20 Scallions, raw (¼ cup) 89 10

Turnip greens ( 2 /3 cup) 709 20 Iceberg lettuce, raw (2 cups) 88 20 Swiss chard 700 20 Okra 85 20 Spinach, raw (2 cups) 672 10 Celery, raw (2 large stalks) 79 20

Pumpkin, canned 570 40 Green beans ( 2 /3 cup) 79 30

Mustard greens ( 2 /3 cup) 547 10 Leeks (¾ cup) 79 30 Sweet , Cauliflower 75 20 with skin (1 medium) 485 100 Cilantro, raw (2 ½ Tbs.) 75 5 Radicchio, raw (2 cups) 464 20 Wax beans ( 2 /3 cup) 75 30 Broccoli, raw (5 spears) 420 50 Zucchini 74 10 Carrots 397 30 Avocado, raw (½) 73 120 Romaine lettuce, 68 30 raw (2 cups) 394 20 Lima Beans 65 100 Broccoli rabe (7 stalks) 386 30 Green chili pepper, raw (½) 53 10 Carrots, raw (1 large) 348 30 Potato, with skin (1 medium) 53 100 Red bell pepper, raw (1 large) 340 50 Love ’em Anyway (Score = 0-49) Curly , raw (2 cups) 307 20 Parsnips 49 60 Parsley, raw (¼ cup) 297 10 Corn 47 70 Green lettuce, raw (2 cups) 286 10 Jicama, raw 45 30 Sun-dried tomato (¼ cup) 281 40 39 30 Broccoli 263 30 Beets 38 40 Boston or bibb lettuce, raw (2 cups) 257 10 (sunchoke), raw 37 60 Brussels sprouts 243 30 Red chili pepper, raw (½) 36 10 Red bell pepper 223 20 squash 35 20 Tomato, raw (1 medium) 214 30 Radishes, raw (9 large) 34 10 Red leaf lettuce, Beets, canned 32 40 raw (2 cups) 198 10 Cucumber, raw, Butternut squash 197 30 with peel (¹/³ medium) 29 20 Green bell pepper, Water chestnuts, canned 27 70 raw (1 large) 193 30 26 20 Peas 166 70 Portobello mushrooms (¾ cup) 24 30 152 10 Cucumber, raw, peeled (¹/³ medium) 23 10 Not Exactly Chopped Liver (Score = 50-149) , canned (2 Tbs.) 21 10 Tomato 134 20 Eggplant (¾ cup) 19 30 Arugula, raw (2 cups) 133 10 19 40 Snow peas 133 30 White mushrooms (¾ cup) 19 20 , raw (1 cup) 132 20 Alfalfa sprouts, raw (½ cup) 18 10 Asparagus (6 spears) 131 20 Jalapeño pepper, raw (1) 18 10 Red cabbage, raw (1 cup) 131 30 Spaghetti squash 18 20 117 20 White mushrooms, Cabbage, raw (1 cup) 116 20 raw (5 medium) 17 20 Zucchini, raw (½ medium) 115 20 Bamboo shoots, canned 10 20 Green bell pepper 111 20 Onion, raw (3 Tbs.) 8 10 Cauliflower, raw (1 cup) 100 30 Garlic, raw (1 clove) 3 10

NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 15

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