Eat More Vegetables by Cooking Them
Everyone should try to eat 300 grams of vegetables each day — 100 grams of green and yellow vegetables and 200 grams of non-green/yellow vegetables. “Three hundred grams is easy to say, but if the vegetables are raw, that is quite an amount,” notes dietitian Miyuki Eda.
Vegetables have a lot of bulk. For example, 100 grams of shredded cabbage would be as most people could hold in two cupped hands. One hundred grams of spinach would be about four or five bunches, almost too much to be able to hold with one hand. Some water-soluble vitamins are inevitably lost when vegetables are cooked, but the vegetable’s bulk also decreases greatly, making it possible to eat much more.
Cooking has other benefits, as well.
“Cooking vegetables allows you to ingest a great deal more fiber, which can help ease constipation and may help prevent cancer of the large intestines. In addition to the nutritional benefits, cooking vegetables allows you to experience a wide variety of different tastes and flavors,” says Eda.
Eating vegetables raw definitely limits your choices: salads with dressing, or soy sauce and mayonnaise, or maybe dressings with sweet vinegar. If that was all you had every single day, you would surely tire of it.
Boiling, sautéing, and steaming greatly broaden your repertoire. Some possible Japanese dishes include chikuzenni (chicken and vegetables stewed in a soy broth), kenchin-jiru (sautéed vegetables and tofu in broth), meat and potatoes, sautés, stir-fried vegetables, kinpira (vegetables fried in soy), cabbage rolls, stews, and vegetable soups. Because the possibilities are endless — your creativity is the key — you can definitely eat more vegetables this way.
(Translated by Roy Mashima)
(The information provided should not be construed as medical advice or instruction. Consult your physician before attempting any new program. Readers who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the risk of developing serious medical conditions.)
