Asparagus

Description

Health Benefits

The vitamins, minerals, and fiber in asparagus can provide serious health benefits.

Vitamin A, for example, is important for keeping your eyes healthy. It feeds your corneas and retinas and it helps your eyes lubricate themselves properly. Vitamin A also helps prevent eye disease like cataracts or macular degeneration.

Other health benefits of asparagus include:

Blood Clotting

Vitamin K helps blood clot properly, and a vitamin K deficiency can lead to problems like uncontrolled bleeding after an injury. Consuming enough vitamin K through vegetables like asparagus can help make sure your blood clots like it’s supposed to.

Rich in Antioxidants

Asparagus is also a good source of antioxidants like Vitamin A and Vitamin E. These antioxidants help the body fight off “free radicals,” or oxygen particles that cells produce as waste. Free radicals can damage the DNA of nearby cells, leading to cancer, heart disease, and other health problems. The antioxidants in asparagus help remove these free radicals from your system.

Better Digestion

The dietary fiber in asparagus helps your stomach and intestines continue to work normally. Dietary fiber fuels good bacteria, which help your body digest food and absorb important nutrients. Eating enough fiber also helps prevent problems like hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, or other painful digestive problems.

Blood Pressure Control

Another benefit of eating enough fiber is that it helps regulate cholesterol. Too much cholesterol in your diet can cause and heart disease. The insoluble fiber in asparagus binds to any cholesterol in your digestive system and helps carry it out before you absorb it. Plus, the potassium in asparagus can help lower cholesterol and regulate your heartbeat.

Asparagus is amazingly versatile: it can be steamed, simmered, roasted, battered, grilled, sautéed or wok-fried. Thinly sliced, it’s even wonderful raw in a salad. The cooked spears can sport a variety of guises, from simple salt and pepper seasoning with butter or olive oil. But it also holds up quite well to bold spicy treatment — anchovy, garlic, olives and chilies.