Vital, Viable and Vivid Vegetables

(photo by Dreamstime.com)

Fun Facts About Vital, Viable, and Vivid Vegetables!

• I learned just this morning that the fear of vegetables is called Lacharophobia. Which may or may not lead right into the next fact!
• Only about one third of Americans eat the daily vegetable requirement.
• Potatoes and lettuce are the two most popular vegetables in the U.S.
• Almost all lettuce is packed right in the field.
• Darker green vegetables contain more vitamin C than lighter green ones.
• The longer that vegetables sit around waiting to be eaten, the more nutrients they lose. Then when they come in contact with water or heat, they lose even more nutrients at an even faster rate.  So if this concerns you, then eat raw vegetables to get more nutrients.  
• Chopping vegetables into larger pieces rather than smaller ones helps them keep their nutrients because there is less of a surface to come in contact with the air or water.
• And since many of the nutrients go into the cooking water, don't throw that water away.  Use it for soup.
• Australians typically put pickled beets and/or a fried egg on burgers (in addition to the regular ketchup, mustard, etc)
• Tomatoes are a fruit and were once considered a kind of apple by France and Italy.
• Asparagus is related to onions, leeks, and garlic.  California grows about 70% of all the asparagus grown in the US.
• The average person in the United States eats four and one half pounds of  broccoli a year.
• The plant pigment that gives carrots and other vegetables their orange color is Beta-Carotene.  Our bodies convert Beta-Carotene into Vitamin A which helps our bodies fight infection and keeps our skin and hair healthy.

There you go--vital, viable, and vivid fun facts about vegetables.  Help yourself get your veggie fix today by choosing one of these facts and telling someone else!