Top 10 vegetables for healthy skin, hair, and nails
Increasing amount of research have concluded, what we eat, does contribute to healthy skin, hair and nails. Food also helps as anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and serve as prevention of many degenerative diseases.
Many nutrients in foods can and do nourish skin from the inside out. For example, consuming omega-3 fatty acids and gamma-linolenic acids (GLAs) may help reduce acne breakouts and enhance healthy skin. This post gives you top ten vegetables for healthy skin, hair, and nails and highlights the reasons they are beneficial.
1 Arugula
Arugula has a reputation as a sexual stimulant and it’s also a good source of folic acid. Folic acid help prevents neural tube defects in the newborns. This normally happens if the maternal folate level is not deficient around the time of conception.
Arugula is a rich source of many phytochemicals including indoles, isothiocyanates, and sulforaphane. These chemicals are belief to help protect against prostate, breast, cervical, colon, and ovarian cancers.
Arugula is also a rich source of beta-carotene. Carotenes convert into vitamin A in the body, which help protect from skin, lung, and oral cavity cancers.
Recommendation usage for healthy skin, hair and nails- mixed with lettuce and prepared a soup.
2 Asparagus
Asparagus contains ‘asparagine’, a chemical known for its diuretic properties. It also often proclaims to treat diarrhoea, pains of the urethra, dropsy and irritable bowel syndrome.
Asparagus spears contain anti-oxidants such as lutein, zeaxanthin and carotenes. These antioxidants help removes harmful oxidant free radicals from the body. It protecting the body from possible cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and viral infections.
The shoots of asparagus contain vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, and pantothenic acid. These B-complex vitamins are essential for optimum cellular, enzymatic and metabolic functions.
3. Beet green.
Beets is a rich source of nitrate, a chemical which is converted to nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide is a good stimulant. It helps relax and dilate blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. Nitric oxide increases blood flow and boosts stamina. It purifies the blood and cleanses the liver.
Chemicals betalains in Beets is associated with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification activities.
Beets green are high iron, manganese, potassium, vitamin C, and fibre. These vitamins and minerals help to boost the immune system, maintaining healthy nerve and muscle, purifies blood and liver.
Recommendation usage for healthy skin, hair and nails- can be made into beet soup, combine with cabbage, or cook beets with black beans and peanuts.
4 Broccoli
Broccoli helps clears summer heat problems. It contains high levels of both calcium and vitamin K, both of which are important for bone health and prevention of osteoporosis. Broccoli is high in vitamin C. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects us from free radicals.
The compounds “glucoraphanin and sulforaphane” in broccoli and broccoli sprouts helps protect against cancers, prevent damage to blood vessel linings caused by inflammation due to chronic blood sugar problems, and help combat other oxidative and degenerative diseases such as arthritis.
Recommendation usage – Consuming steamed, lightly sautéed, or raw are recommended ways to keep the beneficial nutrients intact. you can combine broccoli with Chinese cabbage and make soup.
Note-Boiling and cooking reduced anti-cancer properties of broccoli. Boiling broccoli reduces the levels of suspected anti-carcinogenic compounds, such as sulforaphane, with losses of 20 to 30% after five minutes, 40 to 50% after ten minutes, and 77% after thirty minutes.
5. Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage is known to help lubricates intestines, promotes diuresis and sweating. Chinese cabbage is rich in vitamin C and other varieties of plant antioxidant compounds such as carotenes, lutein, zeaxanthin, sulforaphane and isothiocyanates.
Recommendation for usage – can be mix together with ginger and simmer into tea.
6. Kale
Kale known to help relieve stomach and intestinal discomfort is highly rich in fibre and sulphur, which are great for detoxifying the body, especially the liver.
It is also rich in antioxidants, such as carotenoids and flavonoids, which help protect against various cancers and protect from the harmful effect of free radicals that can cause diseases such as arthritis, asthma, and autoimmune disorders.
Per calorie, kale contains more calcium than milk, calcium is helpful in preventing bone loss, preventing osteoporosis, and maintaining a healthy metabolism.
Recommendation for usage- can be eaten raw with different kinds of nuts or seeds and also can be mixed with other vegetables.
Note- Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir-frying does not result in significant loss. Steaming actually, significantly increases these bile acid-binding properties.
7. Kelp
The high content of iodine in kelp makes it one of the essential vegetable out there. Iodine is a mineral that is important for the correct functioning of the thyroid gland. If an individual is lacking in iodine, normal functioning of the thyroid is affected. An overactive thyroid leads to hormonal imbalances, depression, anxiety, excessive weight loss, ovarian cysts, panic attacks, dry scalp, and hair loss.
Kelp is especially important in terms of women’s health as it is very rich in iron, potassium, and calcium, all beneficial for women of all ages, during menstruation, pregnancy, and for nursing mothers.
Kelp contains many vitamins, especially B, C, and E vitamins, which are essential for cellular metabolism and energy production, as well as antioxidant benefits and blood vessel health.
8. Parsley
A powerful antioxidant which includes apiin, apigenin, crisoeriol, and lutein. it assists in efficient food digestion, promote healthy skin and have disease preventing properties. Because of its strong taste, eat parsley in a small amount. Seek naturally grown parsley, if possible.
Recommendation usage- make a tea of parsley, hawthorn berries, daikon radish, and unsprayed, dried orange peels.
9. Spinach
Spinach is associated with an ability to improve brain function, memory, and mental clarity. The carotenoids found in spinach also protect against eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration.
Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium and vitamin C.
All these minerals and vitamins play an essential function in the body, for example, dietary magnesium, which is necessary for energy metabolism, maintaining muscle and nerve function, and maintaining blood pressure.
Vitamin c in spinach, act as antioxidants to keep cholesterol from oxidising and protect the body from free radicals, particularly in the colon.
The folate in spinach is beneficial for the cardiovascular system, and magnesium helps lower high blood pressure.
10. Watercress
Watercress is an aquatic perennial herb, very rich in vitamin C. It helps to heal and clear sore throat, clears heat, quenches thirst, lubricates lungs, and promotes diuresis.
Recommendation usage for healthy skin, hair and nails- 1.drink fresh, raw watercress juice to clear a sore throat. 2. Make a tea from watercress by boiling it with apricot kernels (or almonds) to get rid of a cough.
