Steamed or sautéed, collard greens are a 5-minute antioxidant-rich dish that’s easy to whip up in a flash. Full of anti-cancer nutrients and vitamin K, collard greens are best in-season January through April. Collard greens are a cruciferous vegetable, along with broccoli, kale, cabbage, and turnips, and have more vitamin A, carotenoids, folic acid, and dietary fiber than any other food group!
Fill Up with Nutrients
Collard greens rank among the top four vegetables for vitamin K, delivering 1,045% of the recommended daily value! Here’s why vitamin K is so important for the body:
- Promotes healthy blood clotting
- Provides bone support
- Works with omega-3s to help regulate the inflammatory response
- Inhibits neuronal damage in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients
Collard greens are also high in vitamin A, which helps promote healthy skin, vision, and mucous membranes. The dietary fiber in collard greens helps prevent constipation, control LDL “bad” cholesterol levels, and may even help protect against colon cancer.
Speaking of anti-cancer nutrients, collard greens contain the phytonutrients diindolylmethane and sulforaphane, both of which are clinically proven to help suppress breast, prostate, ovarian, cervical, and colon cancer cells. Meanwhile, the phytonutrients caffeic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, and kaempferol are hard at work helping to reduce oxidative stress caused by free radicals running amuck in your body.
Eating Collard Greens
It’s time to welcome a staple of the American South to your plate! Organic collard greens should be a deep-green hue. Avoid conventional collard greens, and stay away from limp and yellow leaves. The smaller the leaves, the more tender the greens will be. Steam collard greens for five minutes, and then blend with a zesty dressing. Sautée some collard greens and mix with toasted almonds and raisins for a decadent dish.
