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Expert reveals how you can add more superfoods to your diet
The nutrition therapist Lauren Kelly explains which foods are referred to as “superfood” and how they can benefit their general health goals.
The asparagus is valued for its versatility, their taste and nutritional advantages in terms of more and more vegetable diets. With the worldwide asparagus market, which has now rated a whopping 28.6 billion US dollars, it is a vegetable that many people cannot get enough of.
“There is a lot to love in asparagus,” says Jenmesser, nutritionist and registered nutritionist at Jen Messer Nutrition. “It has a unique taste and a unique texture, is packed with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants and is great to be roasted as a side dish.”
Here are some of the top food advantages that the asparagus has to offer -and why cooking contributes to reducing flatulence and gas when eating the vegetable raw.
Is asparagus good for you?
Sparagus is a nutrient-rich food that a variety of important vitamins and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and niacin offers almost two grams of both protein and dietary fiber in just about seven stems, according to the US Department Ministry. Nutrients like this “are helpful in the support of intestinal health, immune health, blood sugar stabilization and improved cholesterol levels,” says Leeann Weintraub, a registered nutritionist and nutritionist based in Los Angeles.
The asparagus also contains many vitamin C – an antioxidant that protects the protection of cells from oxidative stress and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases, “says Messer.
The vegetables are also a good source of folate that can help “with things such as visual work, digestion and disease prevention”, explains Kristen Smith, a registered nutritionist and spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It adds that asparagus also serves as a prebiotic, which means that it offers advantageous intestinal bacteria.
Sarage weight management can also support asparagus, says Messer, since it has a small number of calories-about 28 in seven stems and low-fiber content improves the feeling of abundance. It also praises its high vitamin K content, “which plays an important role in blood clotting and bone health”.
A surprising advantage of the vegetables is that it also contains unique properties “that can increase the activity of key enzymes that can reduce alcohol, which could explain why asparagus has been associated with Hangover relief,” says Messer.
Why makes asparagus stink your pee?
But it’s not all the best news. Due to its high fiber content, some people could “inflate with high asparagus consumption,” says Messer. “And because we do not digest fiber, our intestinal microbes ferment it for us and can generate gas,” she adds.
Apart from such potential abdominal complaints, the vegetables are also known to influence the smell of urine. This unpleasant smell, explains Smith, is the result of something that is referred to as asparagusic acid and is unique for the vegetables. “This acid breaks down during digestion in sulfur compounds, and these sulfur products quickly evaporate when urinating and cause a remarkable smell,” she says.
Interestingly, “not everyone can smell the asparagus-induced urine hole,” says Weintauna.
Can you eat asparagus raw?
The health advantages of asparagus are similar, regardless of whether you eat raw or cooked asparagus, but the flatulence and gas connected to the vegetables can be reduced if you cook your asparagus before you eat it, says Smith because cooking the cell walls of the vegetables can softer to digest, which makes it easier to digest.
To cook asparagus: “It can be roasted, grilled, steamed, baked or seared,” says Weintraub; “But boiling asparagus can make it watery or mushy, which is not ideal.” Some people prefer the uncooked version of the vegetables. “Raw asparagus gives salads or smoothies a crispy and refreshing note and can be enjoyed as an independent snack,” says Smith.
No matter how you want to eat it, you add: “Asparagus is a nutrient-rich, low-calorie vegetable that is packed with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants-what is a wonderful addition to a balanced diet.”
