Nutritionists have never singled out greens and separate food group because most people don't see them as real food. Despite the fact that the nutritional value of carrot tops is several times greater than that of the roots, there is a deeply ingrained belief that greens are food for rabbits, sheep and cows. This belief prevents us from adding carrot tops to salads. As a result, we are throwing away the most nutritious part of carrots and many other plants. For humans, the taste of root vegetables is better than that of the tops because the roots contain much more sugar and water than the tops, which are also bitter because of their abundance of nutrients. The table below clearly shows the unquestionable superiority of leaves over roots in three different plants: beets, parsley and turnips11. The root part leads in only three categories: calories, carbohydrates, and sugar (except for turnips). These three components make roots more palatable.
I hope some of the numbers in the table will surprise you greatly. For example, there is 7 times more calcium in beet leaves than in their roots, and 192 times more vitamin A! The content of vitamin K in turnip leaves is 2500 (!) times more than in the roots.
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The immense nutritional value of plant leaves is obvious and undeniable. Think of the thousands of tons of valuable produce - green haulm - that are thrown away year after year due to our ignorance, while most people suffer from chronic nutrient deficiencies.
It's only natural to ask: why do we find greens unpalatable? Isn't our body wise enough to intuitively choose what it needs? I met people who loved the taste of greens and ate them regularly and in large quantities only a couple of times in my life. From their stories, I learned that when they were children, their parents did not give them foods that strongly stimulated their appetite, nothing fried or smoked, no candy or other sweets. I consider my friends to be very lucky in this situation. They are excited about a cucumber or tomato, and they literally drool when they see a green salad. For example, my friend Vanessa says:
"For me, it's always the simpler the food is, the more delicious it is. In fact, you can't really appreciate the natural flavor of food unless you eat it by itself, without any seasoning or preparation. Only then can you really enjoy its true flavor. When my mom and I go out to visit, we usually only eat the green leaves that serve as decoration for the sliced cheese. I would have preferred it on top of the cheese, of course, but it's nice to have the tradition of garnishing dishes with green leaves.
For the most part, people would be disappointed to find only cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage on the holiday table, or worse yet, only a platter of greens. What causes us to favor unhealthy foods that stimulate brain activity and increase tone (sugar, caffeine, white flour products)? The reason is that our body's internal balance - homeostasis - is disturbed.
Over the past few centuries, the human body has undergone significant changes: we moved less and learned to preserve and refine foods. Gradually, junk food has become more attractive to us than natural, unprocessed foods.
Having conducted many surveys among people of different ages, I have come to the conclusion that most of them do not agree to go on a diet consisting of tasteless or bitter foods for the sake of improving their health, even when they suffer from serious illnesses. At the same time, we all realize that it is impossible to be healthy by eating only chocolate and sausage, no matter how tasty they may seem to us. From this contradiction arise the questions: "What should we eat? What should we feed our children to improve their health?".
It seems to me that green smoothies can play a unique role in addressing these critical questions because they are not only exceptionally nutritious, but also extremely delicious. Even kids love them!
I believe in learning to love healthy foods. We are able to shift to a more natural diet even when we have years of bad eating habits.
