VEGETABLES

Skin Care and Vegetables

For ages, our mothers and grandmothers have carried on the natural methods to keep their beauty intact. On the other hand, our skins today are usually pampered with loads of expensive creams, toners, cleanses and ointments, but they definitely lack the natural glow and suppleness that earlier generations had. As is often said, nature knows the best ways to keep us in perfect health, whether it is our organs, limbs, skin or hair. The fruits and vegetables that we often tend to forget in our diet are the best treatments for bright, glowing and healthy skin. The vibrant pigments in fruits and vegetables also have immense disease-fighting capabilities. Rich in a host of useful nutrients and powerful antioxidants, vegetables should be included in a daily diet if you want to improve the health of your skin. Both fruits and vegetables can be divided into four color groups; each of them having specific benefits.

‘Orange and yellows’ include sweet potatoes, carrots, oranges, and apricots. They have lots of vitamin C, which is highly beneficial to the skin and aids in the growth and protection of collagen. Collagen retains the elasticity of your skin, thus delaying the appearance of wrinkles.

The group of ‘reds’ includes tomatoes, red peppers, red onions, and papayas, all of which are lycopene-rich. They effectively protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. However, it should be noted that cooked tomatoes offer you more lycopene than raw ones, meaning you get more benefits from tomato sauce than raw tomatoes!

The next group is ‘greens’, which include broccoli, kiwis, cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, green bell peppers, collards, romaine and spinach. These vegetables are mainly rich in vitamin C.

The ‘blues’ include plums, beets, eggplant, red grapes, and purple cabbage. They are rich in antioxidants, which are needed for healthy, radiant skin. Any combination of vegetables works wonders for the skin, because it not only delays the signs of aging, but also keeps the skin bright, fresh and prevents drying and other skin disorders.

Nowadays, many natural treatment salons opt for vegetable facials and have started using vegetable toner by mixing chopped cucumber flesh, lettuce leaves, lemon juice and chopped tomato into the facial material. You can make this toner at home quite easily to gain a brighter complexion. Vegetable peelings are also performed in many salons, which ensure blemish-free and bright skin.

Vegetables Promote Hair Growth

You might be surprised to know that a healthy diet with many vegetables gives your hair a greater health boost than the most expensive shampoos in the market. Only a proper diet can assure you of hair growth as it’s something that is affected from within. Proper nutrient supply ensures strong, healthy and lustrous hair. Vegetables are undoubtedly the powerhouses of nutrition, since they are packed with the vitamins and minerals that your hair needs most. As discussed before, if you categorize vegetables in terms of color and include at least one serving of each in your diet, you will get ample benefits for your hair.

The dark green vegetables are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron, which are essential for the production of sebum, an oily substance that is secreted from your scalp and acts as natural hair conditioner. Iron or calcium deficiencies can lead to excessive hair loss.

Red vegetables have plenty of lycopene. You will find this nutrient in many hair products as well. Red peppers have plentiful amounts of lycopene and the shiny outer skins have a high percentage of silica, a mineral required to maintain your hair’s thickness.

The orange vegetables (especially carrots) have beta-carotene, which is the antioxidant necessary for healthy hair growth. They’re rich in vitamin C as well, which protects your hair from free radicals. The orange veggies shield your hair from the harmful effects of the sun and keep the moisture inside.

The yellow vegetables have similar nutritional value as those of orange vegetables. The white vegetables like onions are powerful antioxidants that shield your hair from root to tip. Moreover, they are rich in vitamin C, often considered the “anti-aging vitamin”.

Onion juice was recommended in ancient times to be applied topically, since it helps in stimulating hair growth. Further studies are being done at different universities round the world regarding onion juice to see if this ancient claim is really true.

Be Careful When Selecting and Storing Vegetables

Needless to say, consuming vegetables when raw gives you maximum benefits, except a few instances when you need to cook them in order to make the vegetable palatable (e.g. – cauliflower and eggplant). However, vegetables can also be consumed after processing and cooking, although it does take away a small percentage of nutrients. Realistically, consuming it in either way is good for your health. Vegetables are enjoyable, convenient, and adaptable foods that are almost essential in your diet to maintain good, overall health.

Flavors of Vegetables: The green, leafy vegetables come in a variety of colors, starting from the bluish-green of kale to the vibrant kelly green of spinach. The leafy greens have random flavors, ranging from sweet to bitter, and again from earthy to peppery. Collards, bok choy, Swiss chard, and spinach have a mild flavor while mizuna, arugula and mustard greens have a peppery flavor. Bok choy is used mainly in stir-fry dishes, as it remains crisp, even after cooking at a tender stage.

Check The Color While Buying: Always check the fresh lively green color of vegetables (or its respective color) while purchasing. The yellowish tinge indicates aging of the vegetable and they might have an “off” flavor. Salad greens are packed with important nutrients and phytochemicals that support the maximum benefit to our day to day vegetable requirement. Frozen and canned vegetables can be healthy, but canned vegetables have the possibility of carrying excessive sodium. If you buy these, rinse them vigorously under cold water before use.

Look for spots, blemishes, fungal mold and marks of insecticide spray. If you see them, do not buy those vegetables. Always purchase whole vegetables and not cut sections of the vegetable. Also, beware of food contamination and foodborne illnesses while buying vegetables.

Use Them ASAP: You should buy vegetables in small quantities so that you can use them up faster. Certain vegetables have a considerably short shelf life, particularly if you go the health route and buy organic, non-processed vegetables. Also, the healthy nutrients of vegetable starts declining over time. After a certain time in storage, harmful bacteria can start growing on vegetables. Moreover, with increased storage time, the vitamin C content in vegetables degrades rapidly, thus hampering its beneficial impact. If you cut and leave vegetables, oxidation will occur as they are exposed to the air. Thus, the enzymes are released and this results in discoloration of the vegetable. However, the vegetables are still perfectly edible and you can stop this oxidation by adding ascorbic acid to the surface areas or by refrigerating the vegetables.

Storing Tips: Do not keep vegetables in hot and humid places. Always keep them refrigerated and pre-cut pieces should be frozen or enclosed by ice. Keep the vegetables in plastic wrappings or in zip pouches to retain the nutrition for short periods, until you use them.

Make sure to rinse all vegetables before eating. In fact, after you have purchased the vegetable, immediately wash it, especially the green leafy ones, as they may have insects or harmful pesticides on them. This extends their shelf life. If you rinse them in salt water for a few minutes, it ensures their ultimate cleanliness. They will then be free from sand, dust and any residual chemical sprays or toxins that they may have been exposed to.

Keep your vegetables completely separate from raw foods like poultry, meat, and seafood. Vegetables should also not be kept in contact with cooking utensils or surfaces like cutting boards etc. You can wrap the green leafy vegetables in perforated plastic or porous paper such as newspaper and then refrigerate them, which increases their shelf life.  If you use newspaper, take care that the vegetables are not wet, so the ink from the newspaper does not stick on the vegetables!

Whew! There is a lot to say about vegetables, but mainly, go out and have an adventure in a produce aisle; your body will thank you!