This week, we will begin our exploration of different food categories.  The goal is to better understand how to use food to address our nutritional needs.  Supplements, such as multivitamins, can be helpful for filling in vitamin and mineral gaps or as a nutritional “insurance policy,” but they could never provide what real food does.  Researchers are still discovering new compounds in our foods and how they interact with our bodies, which means whole foods are the very best sustenance.  Complementary to our biological needs, food is also important for our mental, social, cultural, spiritual, and emotional health.  We come together to enjoy certain foods, tell treasured stories, catch up, and be near each other.  Supplements (even the really fancy ones) cannot fill all these roles. 

Today, we will talk about greens.  

When I say greens, I mean the leaves of plants like spinach, lettuce, kale, chard, dandelions, collards, arugula, beets, parsley, mustards, nettles, bok choy, cilantro, basil, etc.  There are many different ones to choose from with flavor profiles incorporating different levels of spice, bitterness, sweetness, and “green” flavor.  Don’t be discouraged if you find that the flavor of one form of greens is a bit too intense.  Start with milder greens like spinach or lettuce and incorporate small amounts of the stronger flavors like mustards and chard as your taste buds adjust. 

The Nutritional Makeup of Greens: 

Each different plant will have different levels of nutrients depending on what it is, where it was grown, how it was grown, and how soon after harvest it arrives on your plate.  That being said, greens in general are a good source of many different nutrients: 

Vitamins: 

Greens are a fantastic source of B vitamins, especially folate.  If we think back to February and the article on nutrient deficiencies, we will remember that folate is important for blood cell production and the development of our nervous systems.  

Greens are the best source of Vitamin K, which is needed for both blood clotting and bone health. 

Another vitamin that is particularly high in greens is beta-carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A.  Vitamin A is important for our eyesight, for our immune function, and is involved in our thyroid function. 

Vitamin C can also be found in high amounts in our green leafy vegetables.  Vitamin C is important for many different processes in our body, from collagen production to our immune function.  Remember, scurvy isn’t unheard of in the US, especially among picky eaters!

Minerals: 

When it comes to minerals, greens are good sources of magnesium, calcium, manganese, potassium, and iron.  With nutrients such as iron, the method of preparation is important.  Cooking greens with a bit of acid from lemon juice or vinegar helps make the iron easier to digest and absorb, and it tastes good too! 

Other Nutrients: 

In addition to the vitamins and minerals mentioned above, greens are a good source of fiber, water, and other phytochemicals.  Of note is chlorophyll, which has antioxidant, deodorant, and anti-cancer effects when taken internally. (1)  Chlorophyll has been shown to decrease the damage of aflatoxin, and it has been used successfully to promote wound healing for decades.  

Comparing Different Greens: 

First, remember that organic does matter with greens.  The fewer pesticides sprayed on your food, the better.  Also, as the health of the soil impacts the health of our food, depleted industrial farming soils do not produce food with high nutrient levels - it’s just not possible for a plant to be iron-rich, if there isn’t any iron left in the soil. 

Second, we need to look at the plant species itself.  Is the leaf in front of you from a wild plant that was harvested from the woods or is it one that has been cultivated to increase the sugar and water content over time?  While iceberg lettuce and dandelions are both leafy greens, their nutritional content is vastly different.  Let’s compare the nutritional value of one cup of each.  I used my free cronometer account to access the following information from the Nutrition Coordinating Center Food and Nutrient Database:

Iceberg Lettuce: 

• Folate: 16.53 micrograms

• Beta Carotene: 170.43 micrograms

• Vitamin K: 13.74 micrograms

• Vitamin C: 1.6 mg

• Magnesium:  3.99 mg

• Potassium: 80.37 mg

• Calcium:  10.26 mg

• Manganese: 0.07 mg

• Iron: 0.23 mg

Dandelion Leaf:  

• Folate: 14.9 micrograms

• Beta Carotene: 3220.1 micrograms

• Vitamin K: 428.2 micrograms

• Vitamin C: 19.3 mg

• Magnesium:  19.8 mg

• Potassium: 218.4 mg

• Calcium:  102.9 mg

• Manganese: 0.2 mg 

• Iron: 1.7 mg

You can see that with the exception of folate, a cup of dandelion leaf has a much greater nutritional value than iceberg lettuce!  If we were looking to increase our folate intake, a cup of spinach leaves would bring in 58.2 micrograms.  By mixing and matching our leafy greens, we can create a more well rounded, nutritionally dense meal.  Salad mixes with the leaves of many different plants are a great way to support your health with leafy greens!

Applications: 

Eating greens by the cupful may not sound particularly tasty to you, or it may sound delightful.  Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to food.  However, life is full of compromises, prioritizations, and making choices.  If you are ready to make your health a priority, and you have historically been very picky, it may be time to increase the variety of your diet. 

If you are someone who prepares meals for others, you may be making this choice for yourself and someone else.  If this is the case, I recommend trying to gradually increase healthy foods into the household diet.  This can help to avoid mealtime battles of will, feelings of resentment, and returning to unhealthy patterns.  There are many ways to incorporate leafy greens into your favorite meals that do not include a pile of under-seasoned and overcooked spinach. 

A quick note for those on warfarin therapy: 

If you are on warfarin or another medication that works against vitamin K, your doctor and pharmacist have most likely discouraged you from eating greens and other sources of vitamin K.  This is for a good -- if not fully transparent -- reason.  If you can eat around the same amount of vitamin K daily and work with your medical team to adjust your dose, greens do not need to be avoided while on warfarin therapy.  You do need to create a plan with your team, understand how to keep your vitamin K levels consistent, and communicate any desired changes from this plan before you make them.  It takes self-discipline, planning, and self-advocacy in your healthcare, but once you find the right plan, you can safely enjoy greens while on warfarin. 

A few ideas to get you started: 

Salads are what most people go to when it comes to leafy greens, and this can be a fantastic strategy for people who enjoy salads.  Remember to try different recipes and dressings.  You may come across some surprisingly delicious new flavor combinations.  If you eat the same salad over and over, it can get quite boring, but there are really yummy, complex, and interesting combinations out there.  You may also be surprised how turning a sandwich, burger, or other traditionally bread-enclosed food into a salad adds a new spin to old favorites.  

Smoothies are another great way to get your greens in.  Tossing a couple of handfuls of spinach or a few kale leaves into your blender with nut butter, a banana, some berries, flax seeds, cocoa powder, and water makes a tasty and easy to drink beverage.  When I want some additional sweetness, I like to throw in a pinch of stevia leaves. 

Blended sauces are another great way to incorporate greens.  A spaghetti sauce with multiple veggies cooked in and then blended until smooth is quite tasty.  Pesto is another great leaf-based sauce to try out.  You can make it with basil, dandelions, parsley, cilantro, or whatever greens you have on hand.  Speaking of parsley, tabbouleh is another tasty dish that also incorporates mint - another leafy green.  I personally love mixing greens into my mashed potatoes to make colcannon. 

Lastly, if you have access to big collard green leaves, they make fantastic wraps for burritos, burgers, sandwiches, etc.  Other leaves can also be used to package yummy food: dolmas anyone? 

Intake goals: 

Just like everything else that has to do with your health, this can vary.  Minimally, I recommend aiming for 2 cups of raw leafy greens daily.  This doesn’t mean you need to eat them raw; this is just how to measure them; when you cook greens they shrink in volume considerably.  

Once you are reliably eating two cups of greens daily, experiment with adding more.  There is no upper limit on eating greens, as long as you are still eating a variety of foods and meeting your personal nutritional goals. 

I also recommend eating seasonally as much as possible.  Right now in mid-April, dandelions, nettles, and other wild greens are very much in season whereas cabbage, basil, and collards are not.  Take advantage of what you see growing around you, what’s on sale (in-season) at your local grocery store, what you find at a farmer’s market, or what you see in your CSA share.  You will begin to notice the rhythms of the seasons and match your menus to them.  

Do you have a favorite way to enjoy greens that I haven’t shared?  Please leave a comment so we can all learn from your experience!

Next Week: 

Next week we will continue our exploration of foods by turning our focus to another often underappreciated nutritional powerhouse: beans and lentils.

To our health!

References: 

1.  Higdon, J, “Chlorophyll and Chlorophyllin”, Linus Pauling Institute, Micronutrient Center, Written 2004, Reviewed 2009.  Accessed 4/19/2021