Green vegetables, every day regardless of fruit

A little riddle: if the daily stool of a European weighs on average 200 grams, what is the weight of those of an African? Think, and answer at the end of the column!

According to the usual definitions, a “green vegetable” is a vegetable whose edible part is green in color. For most consumers, green does not mean green in color but fresh. However, peas are green but should be classified in the “pulses” category and avocados in that of “oilseeds”.

Why eat green vegetables? Quite simply because they are the foods richest in nutrients, vitamins, fibers, mineral salts, in the same way as fruits, but unlike them, being low in calories. Food prevention often starts with slogans. For fruits and vegetables, we first had, a few years ago: “10 fresh fruits and vegetables… per day”! Today, more reasonably, we have returned to “5”. It’s not the best campaign of our advertisers… But never mind the figure, which may seem huge, especially for those who prefer meat. In fact, a normal day – especially for little ones – theoretically includes, in the ideal configuration, 3 meals and 2 snacks. The opportunities to consume fruits and vegetables are therefore legion. Just like arguments…

Their interest has long been suspected. We can even find the explanation in the man of the caves, when he was a hunter and gatherer. A food synergy had therefore been established between these two sources of food, animal and vegetable. Meats are high in cholesterol and toxic to our arteries. The body has therefore done everything to eliminate them, through food, thanks to the fibers provided in large part by vegetables. Fibers are those substances, little or not digested, contained in large quantities in plants. Cro-Magnon man’s diet was balanced, and if he died young from infection or injury, his arteries were free from any cholesterol deposits.

The advantage of fibers also lies in the fact that they require a chewing effort: chewing and not swallowing is one of the first recommendations of all nutritionists to all those who want to lower their cholesterol, but also their weight. Chewing more increases the production of saliva and gastric juices, which promotes the impression of a full stomach, and therefore of satiety.

Fiber isn’t the only benefit of these foods. Our history books have all told us that cabbage and lemon once saved sailors from scurvy. Research has shown, especially over the past forty years, many other benefits that strongly argue for significant changes in our diet.

First for the prevention of certain cancers. The diversity of components in vegetables probably plays a significant role in slowing the disease process, but taken separately the support is weak. It is the diversity of all these products that makes it an explosive cocktail against cancer. That of the intestine unquestionably, but, what is more recent, those of the mouth, the larynx, the lungs and the stomach. Add to that the prevention of diabetes and obesity… We must admit that we do not know how to fully explain this beneficial effect. The proof ? When we tried to combine all the supposedly effective components into a single pill, it didn’t work!
One last argument that should really make you want to walk through the door of the greengrocers shop: take the case of the first complaint of the French to their doctor: transit disorders, the scientific name of our encounter, theoretically daily, with the toilet. We are, it seems, a chronically constipated people! If the battle of digestion, which begins in the mouth and the stomach, really takes place, which many people do not know, in the unknown and unexplored territory of the small intestine, it is in the large intestine that the evacuation process. For this to happen perfectly, you need… fibers! And where do we find the fibers? Mostly in vegetables. So, to now respond positively to the agonizing question: “How are you?” “, the origin of which is the question that was asked to the king every morning to know the state of his stools, it is necessary to consume at least 300 grams of vegetables per day (60 to 120 grams for children depending on the ‘age). A final benefit of fibers, their role as a natural dustpan in our large intestine. This will also be the explanation of the answer to the riddle at the beginning:

It is because they mainly consume fibers that cannot be assimilated that Africans have on average stools that exceed 400 grams each day… and that there is, in these countries, practically no bowel cancer.
So the vegetables must be found regularly on the plate. Raw, cooked, fresh, frozen or canned, it doesn’t matter! But in any case, not in juice, because they will have lost all their magic fibers. All you have to do is juggle the menus to come so that this consumption becomes a pleasure rather than a constraint. It’s probably not so easy all year round, but certainly, the game is worth the effort.

Doctor Jean-Francois Lemoine

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Which vegetables and when?

Last great debate: the place of the potato. Vegetable or starch? Both classifications are possible, according to dieticians. Moreover, popular common sense had understood this: where do you put potatoes in the kitchen? Certainly not with other starchy foods, pasta or rice, but with carrots, turnips or onions, which are indeed vegetables.

We always say vegetables are the unloved of our children. However, it is in childhood, where eating habits are taken, that we must be vigilant. But maybe our little ones don’t like vegetables very much because they aren’t really on their parents’ plate. This is confirmed by a survey which shows that 60% of us consume vegetables in too small quantities; more than one child in two eats less than two vegetables a day.

When and which vegetables to recommend (Source Carrefour Assurance)