6 #VeggieSexy Vegetables With Superpowers

Article posted in: Diet & Nutrition
fresh in season baby spinach in a bowl

The Avengers are recruiting for their third movie. They’d do well to look at these six #VeggieSexy vegetables with superpowers! Each of them will give you a healthier physique and a pile of nutritional superpowers. They even fit into your Nutrisystem weight loss plan!

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Here are six superfood veggies to add to your weight loss menu ASAP:

1. Super strength!

Popeye was no fool: Spinach provides one gram of protein for every seven calories of the green you eat—about a cup of raw leaves. Compare that to eggs: An extra large egg will give you seven grams of protein, but will take you 80 calories to get there. A bonus from your spinach: Each seven-calorie cup will provide you with 56 percent of your daily Vitamin A and five percent of your iron.

2. Unbreakable bones!

Watercress has almost no calories—less than ten in a two-cup serving—but has more than four times as much calcium as two-percent milk, calorie for calorie. This incredible addition to salads and pesto sauces also packs Vitamin C, potassium, and beta-carotene.

3. X-Ray vision!

Most leafy greens provide more Vitamin A than a carrot. Kale provides 206 percent of your recommended daily Vitamin A in just one cup of chopped leaves. That’s in addition to more than 600 percent of your daily potassium, 130 percent of your daily Vitamin C, and 26 percent of your daily manganese, a nutrient used by the body to process cholesterol, carbohydrates and protein.

4. Your stomach filled faster than a speeding bullet!

A one cup serving of cooked lima beans delivers 13.2 grams of filling fiber. You’ll also get 12 grams of protein—another nutrient that keeps you feeling fuller, longer. Of course, you won’t get any benefits if you don’t eat them—spice them up by adding a bit of chicken broth when you boil the beans and mixing the finished, drained beans with some sautéed diced onion. Season liberally with black pepper and fill up fast.

5. The ability to clear your skin in a single leaf!

Biotin is an important nutrient for helping the body process fat and sugars, and it also helps keep your skin moist and supple. Swiss chard has more biotin per calorie than almost any other food. Like other leafy greens, it also has lots of Vitamin A (44 percent of your daily amount per cup), and almost 400 percent of your recommended daily potassium. The leaf can be sautéed, but an easy way to eat it is to separate the leaf from its stem and add it to salad for skin-boosting benefits.

6. Super smarts!

Beets increase blood flow to your brain. In a study from Wake Forest University, scientists found that the natural nitrates in these red roots help pump more red cells to your gray matter, which can improve mental performance. Try chopping beets into one-inch cubes, tossing with some low-calorie cooking spray, and roasting on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. They’ll be sweet, and you’ll be smart.