It is St. Patty’s Day! The day of my people! Technically I am only 4% Irish… but I claim more because this is always such a fun holiday and I like their food culture. The culture of soda bread, cakes, cheese, stews, roasted meats, and Guinness!
Since it is St. Patty’s Day, and green is the official color, I decided to write a quick blog about green foods and the nutrition that they provide.
Green Vegetables
Green Vegetables are rich in vitamins such as vitamin A, C, E, and K. Green vegetables are also a great source of folate, iron, fiber, magnesium, potassium, and even calcium. Calcium isn’t just in our dairy products my friends!
Eat your greens!
We often ignore the addition of vegetables in our diet, in fact, rarely does anyone get the recommended 2-3 servings/cups a day. The CDC did a study about adult fruit and vegetable consumption and 1 out of 10 adults meet the recommendations. We also know that incorporating more fruits and vegetables into our diet reduces our risk of chronic diseases and yet we still don’t add them. Let’s look at this in a simple way, let’s get the servings in our diet without realizing it. We can do this by adding vegetables into our everyday dishes such as pasta sauces, soups, stir fry, casserole dishes, or even an omelet. Let’s trick ourselves into eating more by simply hiding them in our foods! Let’s focus on the greens, do you ever make a sandwich for lunch? Is it only meat, cheese, and bread [whole wheat obviously ;)]? Why not add on some spinach, arugula, or any other vegetable to make it a healthier option? How about snacks? Have you ever tried edamame, green peppers, or kiwi as a snack? By making these small changes throughout your day, you are coming that much closer to meeting those recommendations and also incorporating vitamins and minerals into your diet that you weren’t getting before. Eat them up!
Deliciously Green
Brussel Sprouts
Green Beans
Asparagus
Spinach
Lettuce / Arugula
Kale
Collard Greens
Artichoke
Edamame
Broccoli
Cabbage
Beet Greens
Turnip Greens
Green Peppers
etc…
Fun Fact:
When it comes to vitamin c we often think oranges or another type of fruit, however green peppers are a great source of vitamin c as well. I believe they are technically classified as a fruit but in this case we will say it’s a vegetable ;).
Green Vegetables & Warfarin
Often you will hear that if you are on a blood thinner, Warfarin, you need to reduce your green vegetable intake due to the Vitamin K content. Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting. Warfarin, in short, prevents or at least limits vitamin k’s function in blood clotting. Some concerns come when you eat too much, you can increase your risk of blood clotting. If you eat too little then you could have uncontrolled bleeding. However, when placed on Warfarin they (doctors/pharmacists) monitor your labs closely. The goal is to keep your vitamin k intake consistent with what you were already doing. Often this is misinterpreted and people think they can never eat a green item again! That is just not true. If you are eating broccoli or spinach daily, but then all of a sudden stop due to being placed on Warfarin, don’t do that! Talk with your Doctor, Dietitian and your anticoagulation clinic team (Pharmacists- the brains behind everything), especially if you plan to make changes in your diet. Also know that vitamin k is found not only in green foods but also liver, chickpeas, some nutrition supplements like boost or ensure, blueberries, and that’s just to name a few.
Recipe of the week from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics
Sheet Pan Sausage & Potatoes (add in some green veggies!!)
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