In everyday usage, a vegetable is any part of a plant that is consumed by humans as food as part of a meal. The term vegetable is somewhat arbitrary, and largely defined through culinary and cultural tradition. It normally excludes other food derived from plants such as fruits, nuts, and cereal grains, but includes seeds such as pulses.
While they are considered nutritious, many veggies aren’t exactly as nutritious as we are made to believe In fact, according to Dr. Austin Robinson, only few persons eat the recommended amount of veggies on any given day.
When thinking about what vegetables you should be incorporating more into your every day, there are some that should be avoided such as:
Pumpkin
Pumpkins are said to be the top five most dangerous vegetables, While they are a good source of vitamin C and antioxidants, their tough skin make then challenging to work with even for the most season cook
Onions
If your stomach is on the sensitive side, you may want to proceed with caution around onions. That’s because, according to Prevention, onions contain fructan, a carbohydrate well-known for causing gas, bloating and upset stomach.
“Foods like leeks, shallots, and onions are poorly absorbed and cause increased water content in the intestine,” said Lin Chang, MD, a professor of medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.
Snap peas
Snap peas are another big culprit of gas and bloating, since they include sugars that are hard to digest. These sugars actually feed the bacteria in your gut, which can cause major bloating. Snow peas also contain polyols, which are known to cause a variety of stomach issues including abdominal cramps, diarrhea and gas.
Tomatoes
Fresh tomatoes contain a ton of nutrients, including cancer-fighting antioxidants. But if most of the tomatoes you’re eating come from a can, they might actually be doing the exact opposite. That’s because most cans are made with a chemical called bisphenol-A (also known as BPA). This chemical, combined with the high acidity found in tomatoes, can actually be quite dangerous.
When it comes to tomatoes, fresh is definitely best and cooked may be even better, according to Uitert. “While tomatoes can be consumed raw, when cooked, it increases the amount of lycopene, an important phytonutrient that studies have shown to lower the risk of cancer and heart attacks,” she told me. “When cooked, it becomes more bioavailable, allowing you to digest and absorb more .
Potatoes
It’s hard to imagine eschewing the vegetable that gives us french fries and potatoes. They are usually inexpensive and always available.
According to the Harvard School of Health, they’re high in carbohydrates — the kind your body digests quickly, which causes your blood sugar and insulin to sharply increase, then drop. Consuming one cup of spuds, then, is akin to having a can of soda or a serving of jelly beans.
So in order to keep your blood sugar from spiking, opt for some alternatives, such as whole grains like brown rice and quinoa, or bring beans to the party as a stand-in side dish.
