By Gary, on January 28th, 2013
If “C” is for Celery and “D” is for Dill then
“E” is for Endive.
What benefit do you get when you use endive in your meals? Well, the health benefits of eating endives are surprisingly significant.
Without delving into bio-chemistry, I went to several web sites to see what chemicals are normally found in endives that assist our bodies and make us healthier. Now – if you haven’t used endives in your food when cooking, you are missing out on a very pleasant tasting and healthy experience. When you use it once, you will continue to use it again and again. I am positive there are other foods that can be substituted for endives, providing your body nearly the same benefits. For now though let’s take a look at the “health benefits of eating endives”.
What is in the endive? Endives are leafy vegetables and endives contain:
Vitamin A is an essential vitamin to help with good eye health and vision and may protect the eyes from getting cataracts. Folate is beneficial to pregnant women to help protect against birth defects. Vitamin C is an important vitamin in boosting the immune system and help fight off infections. Calcium helps build strong teeth and bones. Protects against heart related diseases. Provides dietary fiber which helps maintain a healthy digestive system.
Without being a bio-chemist, how do these improve my health, you may ask? Well, the chemists tell us that the consumption of endive can:
- Endive is one of the very low calorie leafy vegetables. For only 17 calories, it gives us about 8% of our daily-required fiber.
- Current research studies show that the high inulin1 and fiber content in endive help reduce glucose and LDL cholesterol levels in diabetes and obese patients.
- Endive has a good amount of Vitamin A and ß-carotene. Both are known to have antioxidant properties. Carotenes convert to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. It is also essential vitamin for good eye-sight. Vitamin A helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
- Endive has good amounts of many essential B-complex groups of vitamins such as folic acid, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and thiamin (vitamin B1), niacin (B3). These vitamins are required by the body from external sources to replenish and required for fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.
- Endive is a good source of manganese, copper, iron, and potassium. Manganese is an antioxidant enzyme. Copper and iron are very important trace minerals. Potassium is an important intracellular electrolyte that helps reduce the hypertension effects of sodium.
Including endive in your diet is very doable. Check it out 2.
Sources:
1 http://www.naturalnews.com/022356_inulin_food_ingredients.html
http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/The_Health_Benefits_of_Belgian_Endive_a1904.html
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/endive.html
2 http://www.endive.com/healthy-eating
