are these "good" veggies? Nutrition wise?

[ktgrok]

I'm going to be honest, I'm too mentally drained to research this. I just don't have the bandwith. Hopefully someone else has this info in their brain already and can share without any trouble. 

Background - I hated veggies growing up. I'm a super taster, or was before age and such wore down my tastebuds some. I would eat basic salads with lots of dressing, green beans, and broccoli or cauliflower if cooked a lot and with lots of cheese sauce. That was about it. 

As I aged, I've added a lot, but almost always cooked, not raw. Makes them less bitter, plus the texture of many raw ones bothers me. 

During the initial stags of the whole Covid thing, due to preference, stress, keeping life simple, shopping issues, etc I've not been eating great. Lately, I've made an effort to at least eat fruits or veggies at every meal. Mostly though, what that looks like, is a bit of a rut with the same stuff. Which I'm happy with, as long as this is likely a sufficient variety and not actually some totally useless vegetable theater where I think I'm getting nutrition but actually it's a bunch of nothing. 

So, typically, I roast up (in the air fryer), a batch of sliced red onion, bell pepper (varies, red, yellow, orange, sometimes green), zuchinni, and cherry tomatoes tossed with a little olive oil and sea salt. A few days a week I'll have some sauteed spinach with breakfast, or a premixed bagged salad made with cabbage and shredded carrots and such with lunch or dinner. But most days, it is peppers, onion, tomatoes, and usually zuchinni (I leave the zuchinni out if it is breakfast). And then apples mostly as fruit. 

Am I going to die of scurvy? Are the peppers and onions and such actually candy in disguise, and of no nutritional value? Because honestly, I REALLY REALLY love  that combination of roasted veggies. Once I had a japanese eggplant from the garden to add in - YUM YUM YUM!!! Hoping to get more soon to harvest. Oh, and sometimes I add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. But my head has this  idea that if it is that tasty, it can't really be good for me, lol. Thoughts?

[alisoncooks]

Sounds about like what we eat all the time. 

[marbel]

Peppers, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, cabbage, spinach?  Those are all really good things.  

Rather than apples, I try to eat berries. But that's mostly because I don't really like apples all that much. 

Try adding some purple cabbage in the mix now and then. Roasted fennel is awesome too. 

[Pen]

Unless you have specific problems with any of those, they are all “good”.  

You can check vitamin C (etc) amount using information about usual amount per typical serving or more accurately per gram of whatever you are eating

 

Or if Chronometer app is still available you Could get that, though I think maybe only the paid version did these nutrients calculations, enter what you are eating, and it gave info on how much of various common nutrients one was getting. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Bell peppers and tomatoes especially are rich in vitamin C. 

[KungFuPanda]

It sounds healthy and delicious to me. Maybe one day you can branch out and get a CSA then you’ll get a variety of seasonal veggies to use and you might try something you wouldn’t think of. 
 

I have a garden so I’m currently pushing yellow squash on my family. It’s forced me to try new recipes to get them to eat it. I worked so hard to grow the stuff that I don’t want any of it wasted. 

[regentrude]

41 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Bell peppers and tomatoes especially are rich in vitamin C. 

but not when they are cooked. Vit C is heat sensitive

[Selkie]

Those are all great.

Generally, the more colorful a fruit or vegetable is, the more antioxidants it contains and the better it is for you. Red onions have 76 percent more antioxidant capacity than white onions, and red cabbage has eight times the antioxidants of green cabbage. So when you're choosing your produce, go for the most colorful varieties you can find.

Also, berries have about ten times more antioxidants than other fruits and vegetables, with blueberries being especially high.

All the above info came from Dr. Michael Greger's book How Not to Die, which is packed with useful nutritional information. It's an interesting and eye-opening read.

 

[Carol in Cal.]

Those are good, except that the apples are not all that nutritious.  Citrus would be better, and I’m guessing quite available there?  Or berries if you can find organic ones.  Or melon, which around here you can buy all cut up already.   

[Selkie]

6 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Those are good, except that the apples are not all that nutritious.  Citrus would be better, and I’m guessing quite available there?  Or berries if you can find organic ones.  Or melon, which around here you can buy all cut up already.   

Apples are actually very nutritious. Their peels are packed with antioxidants, and daily apple consumption has been linked with lower rates of several types of cancer.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923753419477703

[katilac]

21 minutes ago, regentrude said:

but not when they are cooked. Vit C is heat sensitive

But they still have some, and she is cooking them one of the best possible ways to retain the maximum. You lose a lot of the vitamins to the water if you boil them. Steaming is better than boiling, and dry methods are the best of all. 

[Teaching3bears]

Those are all very healthy for various reasons

BUT

Don't eat red onions!!!!!!

They have recently discovered that they are causing a big salmonella outbreak.

[katilac]

1 hour ago, Ktgrok said:

  vegetable theater  

😂

[ktgrok]

11 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said:

Those are all very healthy for various reasons

BUT

Don't eat red onions!!!!!!

They have recently discovered that they are causing a big salmonella outbreak.

OH! I hadn't seen they linked it to onions! My DD3 had fever, one bout of diarrhea, stomach pain, and headache last weekend, and since she hasn't gone anywhere we have been puzzled as to how she caught anything. But maybe it was food poisoning...she wouldn't have eaten the onions themselves, but might have had an apple I cut with the same knife, I do that sometimes. 

[BeachGal]

All of what you’re eating is very healthy.

However, most Americans are not eating enough food that’s high in magnesium or potassium and both are important because your body uses them to do things. Over the years, chronic deficiencies lead to health problems. Magnesium and potassium are two nutrients that are worth monitoring for awhile.

I second using the Cronometer app even if only occasionally. Self magazine has something similar online as well. 

Besides Gregor’s book, William Li has written one called Eat to Beat that explains which foods have the best nutrition and why. He also explains which foods to combine to make the nutrients more bioavailable. It’s a good resource to have for studying up on particular foods.