Most of us will be well-informed that fruits and vegetables are incredibly essential in keeping with a healthy diet. When we think of vegetables though, we usually think of green vegetables and this makes plenty of sense.
Typically, vegetables are shown on television and other media as greens, so we often overlook other colorful vegetables, but particularly white ones.
In this article, we look at a list of white vegetables with some basic information and background, along with some of their benefits.
White Potatoes
Potatoes are a staple of a classic meal. They’re incredibly versatile and can be used in a multitude of ways, from healthy to unhealthy or “treat” eating. Boiled white potatoes are extremely useful in getting a large amount of carbohydrate energy.
This means you can last longer for tasks like marathon running or to burn a longer lasting energy – whereas protein and fats are the opposite. They’re also very high in vitamin C and potassium, both of which are crucial in a healthy diet.
These potatoes can be used on their own in a snack, created into French fries or mashed for a classic Thanksgiving dinner.
Thankfully too, they’re relatively inexpensive and easy to grow in your garden. Win-win!
Garlic
Garlic has many positive benefits. It acts as an antioxidant, it has antibacterial properties and is often used in meals when somebody is experiencing flu-like symptoms as it promotes healing and recovery.
It can make your food much more flavorful and more aromatic and can be used in a multitude of ways. You can chop or dice it and put it with a pasta dish, use it to cool down spicy meals like chili, or grind it down and create a paste or sauce for more usage.
Garlic helps to balance your gut health and lower bad cholesterol whilst promoting sulfur levels in the body which is critical in keeping skin strong and other bodily tissues.
White Onions
Aside from their red cousins, white onions are probably the most commonly seen onion in stores and health shops. Onions are also quite easy to grow, which makes them perfect for any budding gardener.
Onions also help to boost sulfur levels in the body and so share the same benefits here as garlic. For many years, people that lived in areas where onions grew abundantly would often consume onion raw to fight off illnesses.
However, onions are frequently used in making some classic homemade dishes taste better, including lasagna, chili, soup and even barbecued for your favorite sides.
Turnips
Although the outer skin is not always white, the inside of the turnip is. Very high in vitamin K, you can enjoy a turnip in most foods as it does not have a strong taste to it, but the texture is similar to a potato.
A lot of people will roast their turnips to add a bit more flavor, or add them to stews and broths.
Parsnips
Parsnips aren’t everybody’s favorite, but they are very beneficial for you. They’re very abundant in vitamin C, and they’re fibrous – making them ideal for people with gut problems. Due to their texture, some people can enjoy them as a savory meal or as a sweet treat, depending on their preparation.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are a classic addition to a lot of meals. You can boil them, eat them raw, fry them or steam them and mix them into a wide variety of things from curries to pasta dishes.
They have a huge benefit to our thinking processes and bodily movements, and are high in vitamins B and D leading to strong skin health.
They can be a fantastic source of nutrients and have been known to lower blood pressure when cooked healthily.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower provides us with a huge boost in carbohydrates and vitamins. It’s become more and more popular over the last few years with the rise in vegan diets and vegetarianism.
Cauliflower can often be enjoyed with rice for a very healthy and highly energetic meal as part of a good exercise program.
It’s free from gluten which makes it ideal for people with Celiac’s disease, but it can be used to thicken up things like gravy. If used in baking though, it will need a stabilizer.
Rutabagas
A lesser known vegetable, these resemble closely to turnips but have a much stronger taste to them. They have a big amount of phosphorus in them and this is difficult to get with other foods.
White Corn
Corn is a popular vegetable that people enjoy eating as part of a barbecue or in other ways like soup. When on a cob, it is typically dipped in butter and the flavors burst through.
White Cabbage
Cabbage has long been known for its health benefits, but it is not one of the most popular vegetables due to its strong flavor.
White cabbage is typically used in soups and stews or as part of a homemade dinner at Christmas or Thanksgiving.
White Rice
While rice is technically a grain, it can be used as a side and holds many of the same benefits that other vegetables on this list do. These include a high carbohydrate level, promoting essential nutrients and due to their starch, we feel fuller for longer when we’ve consumed it.
Benefits Of White Vegetables
White vegetables are often referred to as the forgotten cousin of the vegetable world. However, they need to be remembered and respected far more often due to their health benefits and cost.
While most vegetables have the capability to be easily grown at home, they are also inexpensive if purchased from a grocery store or health food store.
Studies have suggested that white vegetables are among some of the best categories of vegetables for things like weight loss, with some experts saying the color of the food is as important, if not more, than the supposed calorie content.
Most white vegetables are high in fiber. This is critical in a healthy digestive process and for a developing brain, whilst also helping us remain more alert. This is why healthy grains, which are usually used for breakfast cereals, are often used by people in the mornings.
A lot of white vegetables also contain a compound known as allicin, which is essential in our overall cardiovascular health. This promotes a healthy heart, healthy lungs and lowering blood pressure.
Some even promote antitumor capabilities of the body, which can lead to a reduction of the risk of cancer.
As we have seen, many of these white vegetables promote a boost in vitamin C, vitamin B and vitamin D. All of these are essential to our diet and can help us by reducing our risk of having a stroke, having a heart attack and unclogging some of our arteries of fatty deposits.
Most white vegetables also support our psychological health by allowing for increased concentration, alertness, learning capabilities and increased oxygen levels.
This is likely due to the high water content in most of these vegetables and this is because of how they grow. Most of these vegetables on the list grow underground and absorb a lot of the rain that gets into the soil.
They’re also less likely to be in danger of pests, and are protected from wild animals – meaning they’re even further boosted by a lack of risk to you if you eat, for example, a potato.
RELATED: 21 Interesting Types Of White Plants (Including Photos)
How To Consume White Vegetables?
Proper preparation and meal planning is the best way to enjoy these vegetables. If you’re looking to get the most out of the health benefits, it’s important that you cook them as part of a healthy, balanced meal.
Moreover, remember not to cook these unhealthily by adding fatty oils or anything like that.
After you’ve properly planned a meal, try to stick to a boiling method. This allows for more water content and is the most healthy way to cook a vegetable. Additionally, the starchy water can be used for flavoring if you’re making a sauce or gravy.
Enjoying a variety of white vegetables rather than focussing on just one is critical too. The best thing to do is to create a mix through a stew or broth. This way, you’ll be able to get the best out of your vegetables and improve the taste.
Many people are uneasy about some vegetables because they do not like the taste. If this applies to you, consider making the vegetables more flavorsome healthily by adding a little salt or putting them into a sauce.
Try to avoid frying the vegetable as this will take out most of the benefits and make them very unhealthy to consume, in fact – the benefits will be reversed, and you’d be in more danger of a heart attack or similar!
Final Thoughts
There are so many types of white vegetables, and they hold some great health benefits and top tastes! Eat them as part of a balanced and healthy diet to get the best out of them.
The majority of people who have no interest in the subject, and aren’t green fingered assume that all plants and vegetables require the same growing conditions. This is not the case at all. Each plant has its own unique and interesting history and growing process.
I hope you will find The Natural List useful, and that it will help educate you on the wide variety of different flower and plant species there are across the globe.
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