Green vegetables are the food most missing in modern diets. Learning to cook and eat greens is essential to creating health. When you nourish yourself with greens they naturally crowd out the foods that make us sick. Greens help build your internal rain forest and strengthen blood and respiratory systems. They are especially good for city people who rarely see fields of green. Green is associated with spring, time of renewal, refreshing, and vital energy. In oriental medicine green is related to liver, emotional stability and creativity.

Nutritionally, greens are very high in calcium, 120 -190 mg per cup. They're also high in magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, and a powerhouse for Vitamin A, C, E and K. They are also crammed high with fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phyto-chemicals.

Some of the benefits from eating dark leafy greens are:

- blood purifier
- cancer prevention
- immune strengthener
- promotes healthy intestinal flora
- improves liver, gall bladder and kidney function
- lifts the spirit, fights depression
- clears congestion, especially in lungs, reduces mucus
- improves circulation

Eat greens that you like.
There are so many to choose from. Find greens that you love, and try greens you’ve never heard of. Broccoli is a favorite. Each stem is like a tree trunk, giving you strong grounded energy. For subtle, light and flexible energy rotate between bok choy, nappa, Chinese cabbage, kale, collards, watercress, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, dandelion and other leafy greens. Spinach, swiss chard and beet greens are best eaten in moderation. They contain oxalic acid, which depletes calcium from your bones and teeth leading to osteoporosis. Eat them with something rich like tofu, seeds, nuts, beans and oil to balance the effect. Green cabbage can be included as a green, either as sauerkraut, or in the very popular Sweet Sensation recipe. When you cut cabbage open it looks like brain tissue, must make you smart in some way. And then there are arugula, endive, chicory, lettuce, mesclun and wild greens. These are generally eaten raw or any creative way you enjoy.

Boil, steam, or eat greens raw!

Experiment with a variety of cooking methods like steam, boil, sauté, water sauté, pressed salad, or waterless cooking.

Boiling makes greens plump and relaxed. Drink the cooking water as a broth or a tea. Steaming makes greens more fibrous and tight; great for people trying to lose weight. Of course raw salad is also good, but not all the time. Heating the greens helps soften the cell walls making the nutrients more available for your body to absorb. Also, the cooking helps eliminate parasites that may be in or on the food.
 

Thank you Institute for Integrative Nutrition for this article.

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