This superfood has more vitamin C than oranges, and you should be eating it

Depending on your geographical location you will know this superfood by a different name: arugula, rugola, rughetta, ruchetta. But beyond the regional distinction one fact is certain: arugula is not just any salad vegetable. This super salad has more flavour and colour than the common lettuce, iceberg or endive, and it makes every dish unique. Not only that, this superfood has anti-aging, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties, and regulates blood pressure. In short, it is a genuine superfood that we should fill up on at every opportunity. Ahead, we talk about the benefits of the superfood arugula.

Why is arugula good for your health

Arugula is a vegetable from the cruciferous family, like broccoli and cauliflower. Its growing season is spring-summer, but it can now be found on supermarket counters almost year-round. This plant with its bitter, pungent, almost spicy flavor is native to West-Central Asia but also to the Mediterranean basin, where it has been cultivated and prized since the time of the ancient Romans, who valued it for both its digestive and diuretic powers and its aphrodisiac ones.

 

Today it is part of the FOSHU, the Foods for Specific Health Uses, those foods that according to a system created in Japan are recognized as foods that can positively influence our health. Low in calories but very rich in fiber, minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, zinc and phosphorus, and vitamins such as vitamin C and B vitamins, this food has a variety of therapeutic properties that should never be missing from our table. Here's why.

Benefits and properties of arugula

• Due to its high content of nutrients such as vitamin C (it contains twice as much as oranges), it has strong antioxidant and cell-protecting powers
• It is rich in fiber that promotes proper digestion, and prebiotics that encourage the balance of the gut microbiome
• Rich in pro-vitamin A and antioxidant vitamin C, it is beneficial for skin health, and gives it tone and elasticity
• Due to its anti-inflammatory powers, it was used in folk medicine to treat and prevent eczema and acne
• It has a diuretic action, and is therefore useful for detoxifying and eliminating water retention.
• Low in calories (it has about 25 calories per 100 grams) and rich in fiber and nutrients, it is ideal for low-calorie diets and weight management
• Due to the presence of beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that also protect against UV rays, it is beneficial for eye health and retinal protection
• Due to its high calcium and vitamin K content (it contains three times as much as milk), it is beneficial for bone and dental health
• It protects the heart, thanks to its content of vitamin C, vitamin K and folate, nutrients that promote heart health

Precautions to keep in mind

• It is not recommended, in large quantities, for those taking anti-coagulant drugs, because it may counteract their action.
• Like all cruciferous vegetables, it can be difficult to digest for those with digestive problems, and cause bloating

How to eat arugula beyond a salad

Choose it wild, if available: it has an even stronger flavour and colour than common arugula, wider leaves, and a crisper texture. Eat it as fresh as possible, and preferably raw, to preserve all its nutritional properties. Its obvious use is in salads, paired with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes from pachino for example, or dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano.

But also to enrich pizza and meat carpaccio, chopped raw on fish dishes, in omelettes and risottos. Use it to make arugula pesto, instead of the classic basil pesto, replacing pine nuts with walnuts, almonds or cashews, for an aromatic dressing for both pasta and brown rice salads, spelt or barley salads, or hummus with chickpeas and arugula.

Put a handful of leaves in soups at the end of cooking to make them more flavorful. And you can also add a handful to your morning fruit and vegetable smoothie, with banana, apple, berries, avocado and arugula for example, to make it even more beneficial and nutritious, and start your day with a health boost.

 

 This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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