You're feeling pretty good about your leafy-greens intake; you throw a big bunch of kale in your morning smoothie and have a big baby-kale salad for dinner. While you get a thumbs-up for fitting greens into your diet twice a day, kale — while a superfood — isn't the only green in the garden. Just as you should try to eat a variety of veggies, fruits, and whole grains, you should also widen your leafy-green horizon.
One way to do that is to rotate your greens. Instead of always putting spinach in your blender, throw in some kale or try beet greens. Romaine is great on a sandwich, but mix things up by trying arugula. And instead of always chomping on Bibb lettuce for dinner salad, enjoy baby kale or spinach on your sandwich or salad. Aside from beating taste-bud boredom (which is always a plus) you'll also be increasing the variety of vitamins and minerals you get each day. Take a glance at the nutritional comparison below to see which greens offer what.
1 cup | Calories | Fiber (g) | Vitamin A (IU) | Iron (mg) | Potassium (mg) | Folate (mcg) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Your RDI (to compare) |
Around 2,000 | 25-30 | 2,333 | 18 | 4,200 | 400 |
Arugula | 4 | 0 | 474 | 0.2 | 73.8 | 19.4 |
Beet Greens | 8 | 1 | 2,404 | 1 | 290 | 5.7 |
Bibb Lettuce | 7 | 1 | 1,822 | 0.7 | 131 | 40.1 |
Green-Leaf Lettuce | 5 | 0 | 2,665 | 0.3 | 69.8 | 13.7 |
Iceberg Lettuce | 10 | 1 | 361 | 0.3 | 102 | 21 |
Kale | 33 | 1 | 10,302 | 1.1 | 299 | 19.4 |
Mesclun/Spring Mix | 5 | 1 | 1,200 | 1.8 | 160 | 53 |
Red-Leaf Lettuce | 4 | 0 | 2,098 | 0.3 | 52.4 | 10.1 |
Romaine | 8 | 1 | 4,094 | 0.5 | 116 | 64 |
Spinach | 7 | 0.7 | 2,813 | 0.8 | 167 | 58.2 |