Eat your greens

Eat your greens is for those who desire emphatically not to go blind when they get older; and are willing to do something about it.

Enjoy your greens was the initial title of this column but I decided to rephrase it; we ignore them at our peril, so we eat them whether we like them or not.

So what is it about our greens that makes eating them an imperative?

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 5th May, 2021.

Eat your greens

Eat your greens because lutein from your food helps to prevent macular degeneration and cataracts; it has been shown to be far more effective and cheaper than from a pill.

Secondly those of you who read the Witness avidly will have recently seen the grave consequences of colorectal tumours. Your greens contain the very-necessary fibre that keeps the stool soft and easy to pass; visits to the loo become a daily, two minute affair.

Then your greens are loaded with the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that keep us in optimal wellness. Because the spread of these vital substances varies substantially from one variety to another it is important to enjoy as wide a spread as possible.

The darker the colour the better, so iceberg lettuce rates very low, for example.

Known collectively as dark-green leafy vegetables (DGLV), beet tops for example are loaded with calcium and magnesium; both these minerals are essential for bone strength and the prevention of arthritis.

Consider then the vitamin, folate, which every single woman of child-bearing age must have daily. Before she even knows she is pregnant, the neural tube is forming; should she be low in this B9, the foetus will develop a very serious spinal defect called spina bifida.

The performance of our children in school is directly related to folate intake and is absolutely essential in many different chemical processes in the body.

Lastly your greens are amongst the best sources of carotenoids in the body. The decision to write this page was sparked by a visit to the optician.

Said he after examining me carefully, "you obviously eat a lot of greens."

I was astounded; how could he possibly have known? Said he, "you have absolutely no sign of cataracts or macular degeneration, which is unusual at your age. You are obviously getting more than enough lutein and zeaxanthin from your food." So I went on to tell him about Bernie's delicious spinach dip that we enjoy regularly.

These two phytochemicals are found in very high concentration in the cones of the retina; a deficiency is one of the major causes of eye-diseases related to aging.

I could write pages on why dark-leafy green vegetables are called functional foods; they promote wellness and help to prevent disease, and there is masses of scientific evidence confirming it. We, and our children, need to eat them daily, whether we enjoy them or not.

• Food for function or pleasure
  

I went to town on preparing my lunch yesterday, but it is really not that atypical. You will spy several different types of lettuce, sprigs of parsley and fresh coriander; then there are leaves of kale, baby spinach and red sorrel.

Also on the platter are beet tops, fresh green-peas and homemade hummus; and bread made with 100% wholewheat flour, butter and cherry guava jelly. Drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice, it makes a delicious meal.

Eat your greens daily, preferably some raw with a little fat to increase the absorption of the carotenoids; and other lightly-steamed.

Read more about lutein macular degeneration. Discovering about the millions of needlessly blind people^[1] brought me much disquiet and confirmed that I was doing the right thing by eating my greens. Will you join me?

Is this the lunch of an epicure or a food snob? You be the judge; either way I don't fancy doctors poking sharp instruments into my eyes.

Iron

Dark-green leafy vegetables are rich in iron. It is interesting that chewing them not only has an abrasive function that help to cleanse our teeth from stains, but also provides a protective coating that protects them from acidic foods that would attack the enamel.

• Chew your food thoroughly
  

If you ever consider being a blood donor, and I recommend you do, then these foods rich in iron are even more important; one day you or someone in your family could be in dire need.

Less than one percent of people are blood donors; each pint given saves three lives.

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