While many people are still hesitant to get on the veggie train, for others who love them, the taste of leafy vegetables can’t be underestimated in salads, wraps, soups, omelettes, and even juices. Greens, like most people refer to them, also make a delicious, and nutritious, side dish for any main meal.
However, to gain most of the nutrients they have to offer, greens have to be prepared in a certain way. If you are boiling vegetables you may be destroying these essential nutrients and not receiving all of the health benefits available to you. The factors that affect the nutrient availability in your vegetables are water, heat and time, health experts say.
Private Kamanzi, a dietician at Amazon Nutrition Cabinet, Gasabo, says that leafy vegetables have a green colour known as chlorophyll. He notes that this natural compound that is present in green plants that gives them this colour. It is an important antioxidant, with a huge concentration of vitamin C, which is also an antioxidant. It is also rich in iron and vitamin K. He says these are vital mineral salts and vitamins that the body needs.
He says that antioxidants are man-made or natural substances that may avert or delay some types of cell damage. Kamanzi adds that you may wonder how long you should boil your greens; however, he recommends preparing them with oil instead, because they have water-soluble vitamins. Therefore, when you boil them, the vitamins are likely to be lost in the process.
"While preparing leafy veggies, moderate the temperature, because when you prepare them at a high temperature, they lose the nutrients,” he says.
The dietician adds that it’s not a matter of time, but temperature and water, monitor the colour of the greens, when the green colour turns darker, it is a sign that the nutrients have been activated, and are ready for the body to absorb them. The longer vegetables are submerged in water, the more vitamins seep out. The loss of vitamins is increased when these vegetables are also exposed to heat, such as during boiling.
"When you continue preparing them with the same temperature, or with water, their colour will turn to pale green, or yellowish, a thing that shows that the nutrients have been lost,” he says.
Kamanzi points out that over preparing veggies leads to the loss of important vitamins and this means that you are as good as someone who hasn’t eaten veggies at all.
"When you continue feeding on greens that are overcooked, your body will suffer from a deficiency of micronutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, and most especially chlorophyll,” he says.
He adds that these nutrients are the most important antioxidants that prevent the body from being attacked by toxins (harmful substances produced within living cells or organisms) that cause cancer.
The dietician adds that Vitamin C, an important immune booster, when lost in food preparation, particularly greens, means the body won’t have a strong mechanism against micro-organisms that may affect it.
He is of the view that eating partially cooked veggies will assist your body in maximising the nutrients in the greens, which the body needs in defence mechanism.
Kamanzi says that eating a diet rich in leafy greens can offer numerous health benefits including reduced risk of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cognitive decline (the condition of having memory loss, reduced or slower thinking, or other impairment in mental capabilities).
He adds that leafy greens may have the ability to support your immune system. For instance, dark leafy greens, such as moringa leaf, can support a healthy retort to oxidative damage which, if left untreated, can lead to autoimmunity. Autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues, and other body normal constituents.
The nutrition expert adds that greens, especially leafy ones, contribute to a healthy heart in a number of ways, this is because they have potassium, which lowers high blood pressure; fibre, which keeps cholesterol in check; and folate, which protects against heart disease and stroke.