Healthy Vegetables and Their Health Benefits

The birthplace of tomato is South America, where until now you can come across wild verities of tomatoes. In the middle of the XVI century tomato came to Spain, Portugal and then to Italy, France and other European countries. For a long time tomatoes were considered inedible and even poisonous. European gardeners grew them as an exotic ornamental plant.

Tomatoes have many health benefits. Tomato vegetable is one of the most popular crops today due to its valuable nutrients and dietary qualities. These days, tomatoes are cultivated in open fields, greenhouses and even on people’s balconies.

The main health benefit of tomatoes is that tomatoes contain large amounts of lycopene, which today is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants. Studies have concluded that lycopene is not only a powerful antioxidant, but may act as a regulator of gene functions that affect the immune system, as well as to accelerate the renewal of tissues. Researchers found that people between the ages of 77 to 98 years, whose blood contained high levels of lycopene, did not need outside help and easy dealt with kinds of activities like walking and swimming.

Sufficient scientific evidence suggests that people who eat tomatoes on a daily basis are less prone to prostate cancer and colon cancer, which is a substantial health benefit, don’t you think? To prevent disease and prolong life does not necessarily have to mean that only fresh tomatoes should be used. Lycopene is also found in sufficient quantities in tomato sauce, tomato soups and most likely in the canned tomatoes and etc. But it’s probably better not abuse consumption of ketchup stuffed with preservatives, sugar, etc.

Daily recommendation of tomatoes is 200-500gr, tomato juice – 500ml or tomato paste 200gr.

Culture of asparagus has been known to the Greeks and the Romans long time ago. Asparagus spread starting in Italy and gradually throughout Europe. In France and England it was cultivated in the XV-XVI centuries. Currently, which is cultivated worldwide, there are more than 100 different kinds of asparagus.

Organic asparagus is also a common ornamental plant, but the young, juicy, sweet and fragrant shoots are used in healthy cooking and healthy diets.

There are kinds of asparagus, where the eatable part is the tubers and not the shoots. This asparagus is grown in India and some African countries. Tubers of asparagus are similar in size to potatoes and taste like nuts.

The name “asparagus medication” is widely known and relates to the healing properties of this plant which are beneficial for your health. In the middle Ages, it was grown by pharmacists for medicinal purposes. Asparagus was also long known in folk medicine as diuretic. Scientific medicine, found that it helps to remove chlorate and phosphate.

Organic asparagus is recommended for kidney disease, heart, rheumatism and gout. Health benefits of organic asparagus: helps reduce blood pressure, strengthens the heart and reduces fatigue.

The other health benefit of organic asparagus is that it also is a valuable dietary product. Shoots of asparagus are rich in protein substances (1.9%). It also contains various vitamins: C (20 %), B1, B2, PP and provitamin A. Some of the minerals that asparagus contains: K – 196 mg, sodium – 40mg, calcium – 21mg, Magnesium – 20mg, iron – up to 1mg, phosphorus – 62 mg.

Loss of vitamin C in the process of cooking in green organic asparagus is less than in the bleached asparagus, as green asparagus almost does not need to be cleaned from the skin, which is also a great health benefit. The content of vitamin C in the skin is significantly higher than in the heart of the asparagus. Most of the vitamin C is the tops of the shoots.

Health benefits of organic asparagus:

• helps reduce blood pressure
• strengthens the heart
• reduces fatigue
• contains various vitamins
• helps to remove chlorate and phosphate

There are many health benefits of cucumbers. Cucumbers can be described as nurse of the human body, though many believe cucumbers are just water. Cucumber contains 97% of water, which contains needed for the body micro elements.

Another health benefit of cucumber is that it contains micro elements which neutralize harmful acids. The acids come from meat, fats, eggs, bread, cereals. As discovered cucumber contain enzyme, which is close by nature to insulin, which makes cucumber even more valuable dietary product to benefit one’s health.

Fresh cucumbers are widely used in folk medicine as laxative, diuretic. Cucumbers are also used for burns and as a cosmetic. Broth from ripen yellow cucumbers is used for jaundice and other liver diseases. Fresh cucumbers are indispensable in the diabetes diet, cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Fresh cucumbers also help normalize the acid-alkaline balance and are involved in fat metabolism.

Fresh cucumber is diuretic and improves digestive tract, slows down the development of putrid processes in the gut and contributes to the removal of harmful substances from our body including cholesterol, which makes cucumber a great addition to your healthy diet. Fresh cucumbers contain hormone, which is recommend for fragile hair and nails treatments.

Fresh cucumber juice mixed with apple and tomato juice (1:1:1) and garlic cloves improves blood composition.

After cucumber is fully grown it gets yellow. At this stage cucumber seeds are collected and dried. Crushed cucumber seeds are taken in the form of powder half tea spoon three times a day with water. This helps in treatment of spleen tumour, hemolytic anaemia and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Pickled cucumber brine was always considered a medical liquid. It helps with hangovers as well as with cramps in legs, spasm of the gastrointestinal tract and stagnant phenomena.

Health benefits of cucumbers:

• Cucumber contains micro elements which neutralize harmful acids
• Cucumber contain enzyme
• Cucumbers are widely used in folk medicine as laxative, diuretic
• Cucumbers are used for burns and as a cosmetic
• Cucumbers are used in treatment of liver diseases
• Cucumbers help normalize the acid-alkaline balance
• Cucumbers improve digestive tract
• Cucumber contributes to the removal of harmful substances from our body including cholesterol
• Other articles on health benefits & how to be healthy

Recently, while doing some research on healthy living, I came across very interesting information about health benefits of beetroot. I discovered that even Romans knew about its secret power & benefit.

It was used by them as an aphrodisiac!!! Yes, apparently beetroot can be helpful in production of human sex hormones as it contains one of minerals involved in process – baron. I presume this could be one of the best health benefits of all.

In Eastern Europe, this vegetable is very important in everyday cuisine. The famous soup borscht is based on one ingredient – the almighty beetroot, but its variations depend on country or region.

One of the extremely testy innovations (for some of you for sure:) will be my mother’s recipe for horseradish and grated beetroot mixture. The vegetable needs to be cooked and then grated finely. Afterwards just add horseradish mix and it is done!!! The proportions to start with can be two medium size beetroot and one jar of horseradish. But everything depends on your taste; the idea is to have strong original flavors with beautiful color.

Just to sum up here are the health benefits of beetroot:

• good for your sex life
• its substances are used in treating depression as they allegedly relax our mind
• one of the substances called trytophan, as I found out during my research, present in our favorite chocolate too, adds something up to our sense of well being

By the way, we should not worry about the pigment, it goes through our system without any impact on our body, it is just a little reminder that we just had some beetroot.