A great way to get the healthy nutrients you need from vegetables is to juice them. Here are three vegetables that have been researched and shown to have heart healthy benefits. What are they you might ask?
SPINACH
Vitamins A and C are found abundantly in Spinach. These are both well established nutrients that protect cholesterol from getting sticky and protect the arteries from hardening. Sticky cholesterol is able to attach itself to the arteries causing a build up of plaque and the restriction of blood flow.
Spinach also contains potassium and magnesium. These two minerals are essential for the proper regulation of the heart muscle. Therefore, potassium and magnesium can lower blood pressure.
Further more, spinach contains a vitamin called folate. Folate is essential for keeping the blood levels of homocysteine at safe levels by converting excess homocysteine into more benign chemicals. High blood levels of homocysteine is a definite risk factor for developing heart disease.
Juicer recipes idea: You will need a good amount of spinach to get enough juice. I recommend four to five cups or even more. You can also add an apple juice to sweeten. Spinach juice alone isn't very palatable and apple also has heart healthy benefits.
BROCCOLI
Broccoli contains good amounts of the cardio-protective vitamin C and vitamin A (see spinach above for benefits). Broccoli also contains sulforaphane, a phytochemical that can protect the heart. It appears that sulforaphane "tells the body" to release a protein called thioredoxin.
According to researchers at the University of Connecticut, thioredoxin protects the heart from cell damage.
Juicer recipes idea: Be sure to juice the stalks as well as the flower heads to get more juice out of this vegetable. This will also increase the variety of nutrition in the juice.
TOMATOES
Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable? Well it is heart healthy enough to make it to this list, so I will leave the answer at that. Tomatoes contain a plant chemical called lycopene which is responsible for its vibrant red color. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant which protects the tomato from the harmful effects of heat and light from the sun. Lycopene is equally powerful at protecting our arteries from cellular damage. In a recent study from Harvard women taking lycopene were 50% less likely to develop heart disease over a five year period. Furthermore, lycopene is considered to have beneficial effects on blood pressure.
Juicer recipes idea: You can make soups or salsa with the left over pulp.
SPINACH
Vitamins A and C are found abundantly in Spinach. These are both well established nutrients that protect cholesterol from getting sticky and protect the arteries from hardening. Sticky cholesterol is able to attach itself to the arteries causing a build up of plaque and the restriction of blood flow.
Spinach also contains potassium and magnesium. These two minerals are essential for the proper regulation of the heart muscle. Therefore, potassium and magnesium can lower blood pressure.
Further more, spinach contains a vitamin called folate. Folate is essential for keeping the blood levels of homocysteine at safe levels by converting excess homocysteine into more benign chemicals. High blood levels of homocysteine is a definite risk factor for developing heart disease.
Juicer recipes idea: You will need a good amount of spinach to get enough juice. I recommend four to five cups or even more. You can also add an apple juice to sweeten. Spinach juice alone isn't very palatable and apple also has heart healthy benefits.
BROCCOLI
Broccoli contains good amounts of the cardio-protective vitamin C and vitamin A (see spinach above for benefits). Broccoli also contains sulforaphane, a phytochemical that can protect the heart. It appears that sulforaphane "tells the body" to release a protein called thioredoxin.
According to researchers at the University of Connecticut, thioredoxin protects the heart from cell damage.
Juicer recipes idea: Be sure to juice the stalks as well as the flower heads to get more juice out of this vegetable. This will also increase the variety of nutrition in the juice.
TOMATOES
Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable? Well it is heart healthy enough to make it to this list, so I will leave the answer at that. Tomatoes contain a plant chemical called lycopene which is responsible for its vibrant red color. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant which protects the tomato from the harmful effects of heat and light from the sun. Lycopene is equally powerful at protecting our arteries from cellular damage. In a recent study from Harvard women taking lycopene were 50% less likely to develop heart disease over a five year period. Furthermore, lycopene is considered to have beneficial effects on blood pressure.
Juicer recipes idea: You can make soups or salsa with the left over pulp.
About the Author:
Darren Haynes loves writing about health subjects and especially about food and its healing properties. Check out my juicer recipes blog Juicer Recipes
No comments:
Post a Comment