Killer Eggplant
Colorful fruits and vegetables provide the wide range of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals your body uses to maintain good health and energy levels, protect against the effects of aging, and reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Many of the phytochemicals and other compounds that make fruits and vegetables good for us also give them their color. That’s why it’s essential to sample the complete color spectrum every day to get the full preventive benefits of fruits and vegetables.
Blue/purple fruits and vegetables contain varying amounts of health-promoting phytochemicals such as anthocyanins and phenolics, currently being studied for their antioxidant and anti-aging benefits.
Include BLUE/PURPLE in your low-fat diet to help maintain:
Eggplant is versatile. You can add eggplant, cut into cubes, to whatever it is you’re cooking, like stir fry. It tends to soak up other flavors, sort of like tofu (but obviously a very different texture). Grilled, just lightly brushed with olive oil, and sandwhich a slice of buffalo mozzarella, is a great way to start eating eggplant. It’s also tasty cut into slices on a sheet in the oven, coated with a fresh tomato sauce (or even crushed tomatoes with a bit of olive oil) and low-fat cheese.
The eggplant has a bad rap as being poisonous and detrimental to health. It was believed by superstitious Europeans to induce insanity, and the fact it belongs to the Deadly Nightshade family of plants has done nothing to enhance its dubious reputation. However, for your convenience, listed below are the Health Benefits of Eggplant
Nutrients: Eggplant is an excellent source of dietary fiber. It’s a very good source of vitamins B1, B6 and potassium. It’s a good source of copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, and folic acid.
Glycemic Index (GI): In a study to determine the GI of various vegetables, it was concluded that eggplant has a low GI of 15.
Cholesterol: Eggplant has been used as a cholesterol-lowering agent, and there are some studies to support that claim. There are, however, other studies that do not support the use of eggplant extract as a cholesterol lowering agent. Further research is needed to establish its effectiveness in lowering cholesterol.
Antioxidant: Cell membranes are almost entirely composed of lipids and are responsible for protecting the cell from free radicals, letting nutrients in and wastes out. Lipid peroxidation is the process whereby free radicals damage cells by stealing electrons from the lipids in cell membranes. Findings from research at the University of California suggest that nasunin, an anthocyanin from eggplant peels, are a potent antioxidant and free-radical scavenger; and have protective activity against lipid peroxidation.
Diabetes: The National Diabetes Education Program of NIH, Mayo Clinic and American Diabetes Association recommend an eggplant based diet as a choice for management of type 2 diabetes. The rationale for this suggestion is the high fiber and low soluble carbohydrate content of eggplant.
Cancer: Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels and is a normal process in growth and in wound healing. Angiogenesis also plays an important role in the growth and spread of cancer by feeding the cancer cells with oxygen and nutrients.
http://www.5aday.org/html/consumers/healthcolors.php
http://www.healthcastle.com/forum/index.php
http://www.elements4health.com/eggplant.html
