Beets are one of four summer vegetables you should incorporate in your diet now. It provides potassium, help lower blood pressure and more.Kondratova Ekaterina/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Finally, summer is here – the time of year to load up on a wide variety of local produce.
Personally, I’m excited about making green salad with a head of locally grown crisp lettuce. And enjoying grilled field bell peppers, zucchini and eggplant drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh chopped basil.
Gazpacho and caprese salad, made from sweet and juicy field tomatoes, are other summer favourites. (Tomatoes are botanically classified as fruit, but in culinary uses they’re considered vegetables.)
Besides tasting delicious, in-season vegetables have a nutritional edge.
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Because locally grown produce is picked at its peak ripeness, it delivers maximum nutrition. As well, the short time from farm to table means it retains more nutrients than produce transported long distances.
Diversify your summer vegetable intake
Eat a variety of different coloured vegetables – dark green, red/orange, blue/purple, white/brown – each day to provide your body with a broad range of nutrients.
Thanks to their generous supply of vitamins, minerals, fibre and protective phytochemicals, a high intake of vegetables supports immune function, promotes brain health, helps lower blood pressure and keeps appetite in check.
It’s also tied to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, macular degeneration, dementia, certain cancers and premature death.
The following local vegetables deserve a regular spot in your summer diet. Here are their redeeming nutritional qualities and health benefits, plus recommendations for how often to eat them.
Spinach
This leafy green, available May through October, is a nutrient powerhouse. Spinach is an excellent source of folate, vitamin E, magnesium and iron.
One cup of the cooked green also delivers more than seven days’ worth of bone-building vitamin K and an impressive 839 mg of blood-pressure-regulating potassium. (Women and men need 2,600 and 3,400 mg of potassium per day, respectively.)
There’s more. Spinach gets a top score when it comes beta-carotene (11.3 mg per cup) and lutein/zeaxanthin (20 mg per cup), carotenoids with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. (Carotenoids are best absorbed with a little fat.)
A high intake of beta-carotene-rich vegetables is tied to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, while those abundant in lutein/zeaxanthin are thought to help guard against macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease.
It’s recommended we eat leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, every day. (Note: Spinach is high in oxalates and should be avoided or limited if you have calcium oxalate kidney stones.)
Other nutrient-packed leafy greens include Swiss chard, kale, beet greens, collard greens, dandelion greens and arugula.
Sweet bell peppers
Along with their bright colours, bell peppers are good source of fibre, folate and potassium. And they’re exceptional sources of vitamin C, needed for immunity and joint health.
One-half of a large yellow bell pepper, for example, serves up 170 mg of vitamin C, while one-half of a large red and green pepper each provide 105 and 66 mg of the nutrient, respectively.
The daily recommended vitamin C intake for adults is 75 mg (females) and 90 mg (males). Some experts, however, recommend consuming for 200 to 400 mg a day to maximize vitamin C’s health benefits.
Bell peppers also contain a variety of carotenoids including beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein/zeaxanthin.
Include sweet bell peppers in your daily diet to help meet your vitamin C target. Peak season: July through October.
Rapini
Also called broccoli rabe, rapini belongs to the family of cruciferous vegetables, which are rich in phytochemicals called glucosinolates.
Once consumed, glucosinolates are converted to compounds called isothiocyanates and indoles which have anti-cancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
Rapini, available July through October, is an excellent source of folate, vitamin C (62 mg per cup), brain-friendly vitamin E and choline, potassium, as well as beta-carotene and lutein/zeaxanthin,
It also provides a generous amount of bone-building nutrients. One cup of cooked rapini contains 200 mg of highly bioavailable calcium, the kind your body can absorb and use, along with 536 mcg of vitamin K. (Women and men need 90 and 120 mcg of vitamin K, respectively, each day.)
Other locally grown cruciferous vegetables to eat this summer include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bok choy, Napa cabbage and mustard greens.
Include at least three half-cup servings of cruciferous vegetables in your weekly diet.
Beets
Summer beets, available early July through to mid-fall, owe their vibrant crimson hue to betanin, a phytochemical shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
As well, your liver uses betaine to neutralize toxins so they can be removed from the body.
Beets are also a good source of dietary nitrates, which the body converts to nitric oxide, a compound that helps lower blood pressure and improve blood flow. Beets also offer plenty of folate and potassium.
Enjoy beets a few times a week – grilled, roasted, spiralled and sautéed, in salads or puréed and added to hummus. (Like spinach, beets are high in oxalates.)
Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on X @LeslieBeckRD
