Nutritious Life » broccoli

Spinach and Calcium

nutritiouslife12 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:05:21 +0000

Spinach is an excellent source of calcium, however the binding factors in the plant prevent much of its absorption. Our bodies can’t absorb more than 500 mg of calcium at any one time. This means as the amount of the calcium in a single meal or supplement goes up, the fraction or amount we absorb goes down. With this in mind, it is important to consume calcium rich foods throughout the day, rather relying on a high dose supplement.

Check out the chart below:

Food	Serving Size	Calcium per serving	Absorption Rate	Estimated Amt of Calcium Absorbed
Plain yogurt, skim milk	8 fl. Oz	488mg	32%	156mg
2% Milk	1 cup	314mg	32%	100mg
Skim Milk	1 cup	306mg	32%	98mg
Kale, cooked	1 cup	179mg	59%	106mg
Broccoli, chopped, cooked	1 cup	61mg	61%	37mg
Spinach	1 cup	291mg	5%	14mg

Adults 19-50 (men and women) the AI is 1,ooo mg per day and for men and women 50+ the AI is 1,200 mg per day.

Deficiency symptoms/related diseases:

- osteoporosis

- bone fractures

- convulsions

- muscle spasms

- heart failure

- bleeder’s disease

Broccoli

nutritiouslife12 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:00:45 +0000

Levels of the beneficial, cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane in broccoli are reduced by 90 percent when the vegetable is cooked, according to a study conducted by researchers.

“Consumption of raw broccoli resulted in faster absorption, higher bioavailability, and higher peak plasma amounts of sulforaphane, compared to cooked broccoli,” the researchers wrote.

Fiber

nutritiouslife12 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:48:56 +0000

Do you know how much fiber you consume a day? Did you know that your daily fiber intake should be between 20-30g a day? Most Americans today don’t even consume half of that.

If your fiber intake is low I urge you to add more fiber to your diet. Fiber does a body good for many reasons. Fiber is known to fight diseases and help prevent many others such as heart disease, colon cancer, breast cancer, hemorrhoids, constipation and other intestinal problems. Fiber also helps control diabetes and reduces risk of diverticulosis. Fiber also prevents us from over eating because it adds bulk to our diet, therefore, it helps us feel full longer.

So what foods have fiber in them? Here are just a few below.

- beans

- peas

- apples

- blackberries

- avocados

- oat bran

- oatmeal

- corn

- broccoli (cooked)

- lentils

- pears

- lima beans

One thing to think about is that when we had fiber to our diets we also need to make sure we drink more water. Fiber binds with water and causes the body to eliminate more water. If we increase our fiber intake we also need to increase our water intake to prevent dehydration.

Lastly, there are supplements out there, but it is way better and to get your fiber from food. Supplements cause us to miss out on important nutrients we get from food.