Vegetable Power
Date Posted:17 June 2014
Widen your choices of vegetables this week and benefit from the variety and increased nutrition. The best vegetables to support balance during winter are root vegetables. Winter is the time of year where green salads are best left alone until the weather is warmer. Cooked greens such as silverbeet, spinach, bok-choy and kale are tasty and great options. If you love salads then a moderate amount of grated carrot, beetroot and ginger root dressed with olive oil and lemon or lime juice, with a pinch of rock salt and cracked pepper, makes a lovely addition to a warm winter meal.
Your digestive strength can need support during winter
- Sprinkle Vata Seasonal Spice Mixture over root vegetables while cooking, or at the dinner table for a balancing and tasty meal
- Take Digest Tone prior meals, especially in the evening when digestive strength needs the most support.
- If you have a tendency for irregular hunger during winter pep up your digestive power after meals with 1 tablet of Digest Plus
This is the time of year when increased spices can be good for everyone
- Kapha Seasonal Spice Mixture provides a warmer tang to a meal
- Kapha Tea sipped through the day helps to warm up a sluggish digestion and can keep you warm also
- If you have a tendency for mucous congestion drink 3 to 4 cups of Sniffle Free Tea or Kapha Tea each day
Bring colour into your life!
The different colours in fruits and vegetables signal the presence of different groups of phytochemicals, so aim to ‘eat a rainbow’ every day to gain maximum health benefits.
| Green | Eat leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, silverbeet or broccoli. These are high in Vitamin C, flavonoids and carotenoids. Broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts contain antioxidants and contribute significant amounts of fibre, folate, B vitamins, vitamin K, iron, potassium and calcium. |
| Orange | Pumpkins and carrots are both high in Vitamin A. These fruits and vegetables are rich in the antioxidant carotenoids, which also give them their vibrant colours, as well as many other phytochemicals. The yellow-orange group is also a good source of fibre. |
| White tan or brown | Beans and lentils fall into this category and are a good source of folate and protein. Allicin, an antibiotic and anti-fungal compound, is found in garlic, leeks and onions. Kumera and Potatoes also make a significant contribution to our intake of vitamin C. |
| Purple | Vegetables like beetroot are super high in antioxidants. |
| Yellow: | Capsicum is high in vitamin C, and Vitamin B. Corn is high in iron, magnesium, vitamin C, and vitamin B3. |
| Red | Tomatos are rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin C. These are the antioxidant heroes containing anthocyanin and carotenoids. Lycopene, the carotenoid found in tomatoes, packs a powerful antioxidant punch. |
Tip
Did you know it can take up to 7 times eating a new food to acquire a taste? So, when trying a new vegetable allow time to acquire the taste and prepare the vegetable in different ways, such as steamed, lightly sautéed with spices, or raw with spices to aid digestion.
Enjoy, eat well and be creative with your meals this week!
Linda Sinden
Maharishi Ayurveda Practitioner
Get Balance Team