The Joys Of Being A Veggie

THE JOYS OF VEGGIES

Veggies are great for dieters: they're low in fat and calories, and high in fibre and essential vitamins and nutrients. But what are the other benefits? And are there any drawbacks to these leafy wonders? Here's everything you ever wanted to know about veggies:

Which veggies are best for me?

All vegetables are very good for you, but leafy green veg such as spinach and broccoli are particularly low in calories and high in vitamins. Try to eat veggies of all different colours to ensure you get as broad a range of nutrients as possible.

Why are some veggies (eg. parsnips) so much higher in cals than others?

Parsnips are a root veg that act as the storage organ for the plant. That means they are quite a rich source of natural sugars and so their calorie value is higher than other veg with very few carbohydrates in them. They are still good for you - but have them boiled or pureed rather than roasted!

Why do I have to count my veggie calories on Nutracheck?

Weight Watchers and some other slimming programmes work on the basis that leafy greens and other high water content vegetables are so good for you and so low in calories that you can eat as many as you want without worrying. Essentially that's right because you'd have to eat impossibly large quantities to break the calorie bank. But keep in mind you'd be ignoring an extra 50-100 a day, and its essential to input fruits, juices and starchy veg as they can contribute a reasonable amount of calories.

Is there such a thing as negative calories in vegetables?

The theory - that some vegetables contain so few calories you expend more than you gain in the process of eating - is very attractive but essentially not true. Although some foods, such as celery, contain very few calories, these types of foods don't require your body to work particularly hard to digest them, so the calories, few as they are, still stand.

Do you know any good vegetable juice recipes?

Here's a great juice recipe:

Carrot and Parsley:
(Calories per glass: 100)

Ingredients:

• 3 carrots
• 50g (2oz) parsley.

Method:

• Peel, top and tail the carrots
• Wash the parsley
• Blend in a juicer

The benefits of this juice are that parsley is a natural breath freshener. It is also a good source of minerals - one glass of this juice provides a quarter of the Recommended Daily Allowance of iron, and an eighth of the RDA for calcium. Carrots are packed with beta carotene needed for a healthy immune system.