What is useful greens — spinach, arugula, mint

If the usu­al pars­ley, dill and green onions do not cause ques­tions, then many of us usu­al­ly bypass the rest of the green branch­es with bizarre leaves. But in vain! In order not to wor­ry about health and fig­ure, you need to add as many var­ied greens as pos­si­ble to your diet — prefer­ably every day.

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“Lisa” will talk about the ben­e­fi­cial prop­er­ties of cer­tain types of greens.

Spinach

This herba­ceous plant must be on your table: spinach con­tains iodine, which is nec­es­sary for the func­tion­ing of the thy­roid gland, as well as fiber, carotene, chloro­phyll, iron and oth­er ele­ments respon­si­ble for meta­bol­ic and car­bo­hy­drate process­es in the body. Spinach helps improve bow­el func­tion and elim­i­nate tox­ins. Spinach is also good for the eyes: the lutein con­tained in it helps to improve vision and reduce eye fatigue while work­ing at the com­put­er.

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How to use:

Spinach can be added to sal­ads and used as an ingre­di­ent in var­i­ous dish­es: its slight­ly sour taste will spice up soups or sauces, and is often used as a side dish. And you can also replace spinach with cab­bage or grape leaves in cab­bage rolls.

Arugula

Arugu­la greens are con­sid­ered a pow­er­ful aphro­disi­ac. In addi­tion, it con­tains a num­ber of flavonoids and chem­i­cal ele­ments, includ­ing iodine, which are won­der­ful for strength­en­ing blood ves­sels. This green is rec­om­mend­ed for peo­ple suf­fer­ing from high blood pres­sure and obe­si­ty — nutri­tion­ists even pre­scribe fast­ing days with the use of arugu­la alone. In addi­tion, arugu­la remark­ably reg­u­lates meta­bol­ic process­es, improves diges­tion and has a ben­e­fi­cial effect on depres­sion and stress.

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How to use:

Arugu­la will appeal to those who love spicy. Most often it is added to sal­ads and veg­etable dress­ings for meat dish­es. In the Mediter­ranean, I use arugu­la when mak­ing piz­za.

Celery

Cel­ery is a store­house of var­i­ous use­ful sub­stances: it con­tains boron, cal­ci­um, chlo­rine, iron, mag­ne­sium, man­ganese, phos­pho­rus, sele­ni­um, zinc, vit­a­mins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C, E, K, fiber, fat­ty acids and amino acids. They help reduce blood pres­sure and neu­tral­ize car­cino­gens. In addi­tion, cel­ery reg­u­lates the flu­id bal­ance in the body. Cel­ery juice is a rec­og­nized weight loss aid.

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How to use:

Cel­ery will add a spicy note to a sauce, soup or sal­ad. Greens and cel­ery stalks go well with veg­eta­bles, meat, fish, mush­rooms, poul­try, cel­ery is espe­cial­ly good in duck or goose first cours­es. The exquis­ite aro­ma of cel­ery sets off the taste of egg­plant, beans, cab­bage, pota­toes and car­rots.

Mint

The essen­tial and oily sub­stances that make up mint have a calm­ing effect, relieve headaches and improve sleep. In addi­tion, vit­a­mins B1, B2, B5, B6, B9, PP and C con­tained in mint, carotene and fiber improve brain activ­i­ty, nor­mal­ize blood pres­sure and improve diges­tion. The tan­nins of mint destroy the path­o­gen­ic microflo­ra of the intestines and active­ly fight dis­eases of the oral cav­i­ty.

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How to use:

Mint goes well with almost any prod­uct, bring­ing a fresh, invig­o­rat­ing fla­vor note to dish­es. Mint is prac­ti­cal­ly indis­pens­able in lamb dish­es. Exper­i­ment­ing, you can try adding mint to sal­ads and meat dish­es — it will enrich and trans­form their usu­al taste.

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