nutrition information

Kale Yeah! My Obsession of the Greatest Green in the World

Published on February 26, 2014July 22, 2015 by The Planted VeganLeave a comment

Today, I will be talking about my favorite green…the best green leaf in the entire world, k a l e. There are so many reasons why I’m so in love with this green, and I could talk about it all day. I actually wrote a whole research paper on it last year (if you actually want to read it, I’ll put a link to it).

Kale is not only delicious, but its also super cheap, and has so so so so many health benefits.

Delicious & Versatile:

When you first try kale, especially if its raw you may think I’m crazy for saying it’s so delicious…especially if you are iceberg lettuce person. Kale has a deep, green taste and depending on the type of kale can be a little bitter. It may take a few attempts for you to get used to the deliciousness of the green, but it is worth it in the end. If you’re not a fan of the raw kale (which most people aren’t) that is totally fine because it is an a m a z i n g green to cook with. Because it is packed with nutrition, and is such a hearty green it cooks beautifully. This green is also great to sneak into smoothies, for added nutrition. If you add enough fruit (three parts fruit, one part green) you can barely taste the kale.

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Are Vitamin C Supplements a Waste of Money?

Published on February 25, 2014October 24, 2017 by The Planted VeganLeave a comment

I really want to talk about this little thing called vitamin C. Everyone seems to always be pushing vitamin C because of its immune protection powers, as well as its overall health benefits. Many people take vitamin C supplements, or powders to try to get enough vitamin C.

For a while, I took Emergen-C which is a powder that you add to water and drink. It has 1000 mg of vitamin C which, according to the nutrition facts, is 1,667% of your Daily Value. Although it does have some other nutritional supplements added to it, it also has an enormous amount of vitamin C. (it also has non-nutritional additives such as “natural” orange flavorings and tapioca maltodextrin)

You can’t have too much vitamin C, right….?

Wrong. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, meaning our bodies only absorb a certain amount at a time, and the leftovers just gets excreted. This is much different from fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) which their leftovers get stored in the body for later use.

Women need around 75 milligrams per day, while men need around 90 milligrams a day. Which as you can see, is well below the 1000 mg dosage in a packet of Emergen-C.

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My Thoughts: Organic or Conventional?

Published on February 23, 2014June 26, 2015 by The Planted VeganLeave a comment

Organic is a term that gets thrown around all the time in the food industry. So many studies are done to investigate whether or not organic is better, healthier, more sustainable, etc. First of all, many people don’t actually know what organic is, or what it means, or how it’s different than conventional food.

Organic foods are produced without chemicals, pesticides, irradiation, or additives. In other words, they are grown about the same way, but without any types of sprays or treatments. This means that farmers have to keep very specific conditions, and use specific organic pesticides to grown their produce. Being an organic garden is something that has to go through a certification process, and isn’t something that a farmer can just claim. All companies must be certified to used the word “organic” whereas anyone and everyone can use the word “natural”. So organic and “natural”….not the same thing at all. ( I will discuss my anger with the word “natural” in a later blog post)

(wait, so these are “natural”….?)

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What’s Up With Trans Fats?

Published on February 21, 2014June 26, 2015 by The Planted VeganLeave a comment

Some of you may have heard the word “trans fats” and most of you probably know that it isn’t a healthy fat….but do you really know what they are and why they aren’t good for you? Well when I learned about what they were and why our bodies hate them, I just had to share it with someone!

So basically trans fats come from the processing (hydrogenation) of fats to make them shelf-stable. Some great examples of foods with trans fats are: processed foods (with dairy products as main ingredients), shelf-stable coffee creamers, refrigerated dough products, margarines and shortenings, and of course sugary treats like doughnuts, cookies, etc. Basically anything that is packaged has some trans fats, and that is because trans fats are only a result from the processing of fats.

Now, that you know what has trans fats….why are they so bad for us? Well our bodies actually can’t recognize a trans fat, and therefore our bodies don’t know what to do with them. We can absorb, use, or gain any benefits from trans fats.