Two questions: 1.) what is a good source of calcium for vegetarians? I don't like eating lots of cheese/milk, dairy gives me gas and I try to minimize my intake anyways, healthier that way. So, I need some good ways to get calcium 2.) I hear cooked vegetables lose a lot of vitamins. Are they destroyed by the heat, or just dissolved in the water and poured off? I've been drinking the juice lately trying to recapture the lost vitamins, and wondered if it's pointless for me to do...not that it tastes real bad, but if there's no vitamins in it, I'd probably stop doing it.
1. Your best source of calcium will probably be fortified foods such as soy milk, rice milk, or soy yogurt. A glass of rice milk and a soy yogurt a day is 60% of your calcium. 2. As long as you aren't drastically overcooking your vegetables, you shouldn't be losing too many nutrients. Cooking is actually beneficial in some cases.
1.) i used to think the only way to get enough calcium was through dairy products, but now i get most of it from "dark leafy green vegetables" and fortified orange juice/soy milk. the intake of calcium recommended by the u.s. (800 mg/day i think) is meant to compensate for the excretion of calcium through the urine caused by meat-heavy diets, so vegetarians and vegans need less of it than people who eat meat. 2.) the water soluable vitamins (C and the Bs) would be leeched into the water at higher temperatures. most of the other stuff stays in the vegetables. if you're really serious about keeping all the nutrients, cut veggies with vitamin c as few times as possible and with the sharpest blade you have, because there's some enzyme released that destroys vitamin c if you rupture the cells.
spinach also has more protein than most vegetables, but you should eat it with rice or grain to "complete" it. plus it's tasty just to eat raw!
dark leafy greens are very good for calcium the thing you need to watch out for is not to eat very much raw spinach its not very good for you in larg quantities
Actually spinach has a lot of calcium but it also has chemicals that bind it, making it not absorpable...oxa..something. So strictly for calcium, spinach is not your best option. However it has other good things. Spinach, strawberry, and walnut salad. Mmm.
oxacalic acid binds the iron in spinach. Steaming helps, but its a matter of absorption. the greens are much better. Collard anyone?
Ohhh man. This restaurant called "Higher Taste" is an all vegetarian organic whenever possible buffet. They have about 10 items. One was greens. I had never really had green before and had only seen them "southern-style", kind of mushy and floppy...these were cut into ribbons and lightly cooked with some salt added. So simple and delicious!! They even had vegan halva, which tasted just like pineapple upsidedown cake!
Having Vitamin C (Like Orange Juice or something) when eating Spinach can help you absorb some of the iron. I think i actually have too much iron from all the deilish soy products I eat. I can go through a box a day sometimes *drools*. And humandraydel...Your sig is making me thirsty. I'm off to get water now.
