Vegetables - nutritional benefits

Vegetables

Onions can help stimulate insulin production and have been regarded as extremely helpful in preventing cancer and can reduce symptoms of cardiovascular disease...

Asparagus
With its high content in Vitamin K and Folate, asparagus can be helpful in improving the cardiovascular system making sure one's heart is in top condition, and if one is pregnant, consuming asparagus contains enough folic acid to help prevent any birth defects.

Carrots
Carrots are a good source of fiber, vitamin B1, vitaminB2, Vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, biotin, potassium and thaiamine. Carrots offers an excellent source of beta-carotene. Carrots are a vegetable that is good for preventing various types of cancers. Carrots also contain antioxidants which help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Mushrooms
Mushrooms have long been used for medicinal purposes beyond mere nutrition. Research has suggested that they reduce the risk of several types of cancers. It's also believed that mushroom extract can help alleviate migraine headaches, and mental disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder

Cabbage
Cabbage is very high in vitamin C, which makes it ideal for cold and flu season. If you suffer from stiff joints, you may enjoy the benefits of the amino acid glutamine, which is also found in this humble vegetable.

Celery
Celery is a vegetable that is good for a lot of things such as eliminating the body's waste through the urine. The celery can help to reduce high blood pressure and also acts as an anti inflammatory in the body. Celery which is highly beneficial to the body has also been known to help surpress one's appetite, which is a very good when you are trying to loose those unwanted pounds. Celery is also good for the kidneys and has absolutly no calories.

Broccoli
Broccoli is filled with lots of vitamins that many people don't realize or know about. It has vitamin c, a, folic acid, calcium, fiber, beta-carotene and iron.

Are Chestnuts really good for you?

When you walk down the busy streets of New York City or Chicago in the winter, you will often see or smell the street vendors selling roasted Chestnuts from carts or stands. Most of the time you see this around the holidays and roasted chestnuts have become known as a Christmas tradition in many places. Those warm, aromatic Chestnuts roasting away are sure to get your attention. But have you ever wondered if they where good for you or not?

Garlic

Garlic, a member of the onion family, is a widely used herb for both cooking and medicinal purposes around the world. The raw flavor is pungent, spicy, and robust, though some spice gets sweetened with the heating or cooking of the clove or bulb. There over 600 varieties of garlic available in markets, though the most common kind seen is the Artichoke garlic. Different sizes, colors, and shapes will provide different variations on flavor in dishes.

The flavors of garlic are well known to compliment the flavors of onions, tomatoes, and ginger, though garlic can accentuate the seasoning of many dishes from pastas to breads and soups to salads. It can be prepared and served in a multitude of ways, ranging from roasted with oil, diced, crushed, whole, or in some cases pickled.

Handling garlic should be considered very carefully as raw, peeled garlic is subject to spoiling. Improperly prepared and stored garlic can cause food poisoning, so store unpeeled cloves at room temperature and any peeled or chopped garlic in a vinegar or wine brine at a refrigerated temperature.

Garlic is hailed not only for the spice it brings to the culinary arts but also for its antibiotic and anti-fungal properties. Many at-home remedies also involve garlic as a cure-all for headaches, body aches, and other pains as garlic has properties similar to aspirin.