Nutrient Density of Green Vegetables
It is not merely consuming too much fat that causes diseases. It is not merely eating empty-calorie foods or the high consumption of animal foods, such as milk, cheese, butter, meat, and chicken that causes premature deaths in America. It is also what we are missing in our diets by not eating enough plant foods. Why are plant foods so protective and essential for human health?
Let's compare the nutrient density of meat to the nutrient density of green vegetables to illustrate this important point.
| Broccoli | Sirloin Steak | Romaine Lettuce | Kale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 11.2 gm | 5.4 gm | 7.5 gm | 11 gm |
| Calcium | 322 mg | 2.4 mg | 374 mg | 470 mg |
| Iron | 3.5 mg | .7 mg | 7.7 mg | 5.8 mg |
| Magnesium | 74.5 mg | 5 mg | 60.5 mg | 97 mg |
| Fiber | 4.7 g | 0 | 4 g | 3.4 g |
| Phytochemicals | Very High | 0 | Very High | Very High |
| Antioxidants | Very High | 0 | Very High | Very High |
| Folate | 257 mcg | 3 mcg | 969 mcg | 60 mcg |
| B2 | .71 mg | .04 mg | .45 mg | .32 mg |
| Niacin | 2.8 mg | 1.1 mg | 2.2 mg | 2.1 mg |
| Zinc | 1.04 mg | 1.2 mg | 1.2 mg gm | .55 mg |
| Vitamin C | 350 mg | 0 | 100 mg | 329 mg |
| Vitamin A | 7750 IU | 24 IU | 10,450 IU | 23,407 IU |
| Vitamin E | 26 IU | 0 | 32 IU | 34 IU |
| Cholesterol | 0 | 5.5 mg | 0 | 0 |
| Weight | 307 gm | 24 gm | 550 gm | 266 gm |
| (10.6 oz) | (.84 oz) | (19 oz) | (9.2 oz) |
This table is from the forthcoming revised version of Dr. Fuhrman's book Cholesterol Protection for Life.
I find it helpful that you remind us (followers of your plan) of this. Thank you.
In an Eat-to-Live blog I peruse, it seems that some followers warp your recommendations by eating the foods you recommend but reducing quantities. They eat less fruit, raw veggies, and cooked greens, and maybe no fats (nuts or avocado) to hasten weight loss, I guess. But they are missing your point about nutritional excellence gained through these foods IN THE AMOUNTS recommended.
What are the ten top green vegetables to eat?
Every dietary analysis I looked up for sirlion steak showed it had 12 grams or more per 100 cals. I'm not saying steak is great for you. I want to know where you guys your dietary analysis from? I just want to make sure when I tell people about how lettuce has double the amount of protein than steak, it's the truth.
Could it be because in most of the data the fat is trimmed? I found one that's 8.6 g protein. That's "Beef, top sirloin, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, cooked, pan-fried [Sirloin steak, Sirloin strip]" If it is not trimmed, it could well be 5.4 g, I think. I noticed the cholesterol data is not accurate, though. It is way more than 5.5 mg per 100 calories. It should be between 30-60 mg. Anyway, even if meat has about the same amount of protein as green, kinds of amino acid in the protein are not the same as greens. Talking about fats, Greens have lots of omega 3.
How interesting that B12 was conveniently left off the list!
Lets also remember that 100 calories of broccoli is nearly 3 cups, while 100 calories of steak is a measly 1 ounce!
Exactly Kelsey, very good point.
Also Ayumi makes a good point, this jumped out at me straight away, how about comparing this to a meat with a decent fat content. Or to something like liver or kidney, or organic butter. Yeah, exactly...
But then I'm a firm believer of eating what humans have been eating for thousands of years before we had massively high counts of heart disease and other such problems, i.e before "fat is bad", "dietary cholesterol is the number one problem"(one of the most important components of our body, and actually acts as an antioxidant, this being the reason why older people have higher levels of cholesterol)
Yeah - Go read some Weston Price.