For your daily lunch choose a fresh vegetable salad which is not only nutritional but also economical in these hard times.

Whether it's a salad off a salad bar or one made at home it's an energy booster full of exceptional nutrition. It can help boost energy to complete your day on a high note.

It's important that you use unprocessed vegetables too. Those veggies that are bright and colorful are the most beneficial. The more variety of color of the veggies you use the better the nutrition of the salad.

Lettuce is the traditional favorite, but stay away from the iceberg variety. Its lighter color has less nutritional value. The best choices are romaine, green leaf lettuce and spinach. It's beneficial to mix a variety of these choices too.

All these varieties are terrific sources of vitamins A, E and K. Vitamin A is beneficial to eye and respiratory health. It even boasts the immune system to a higher level. Vitamin E slows the aging process and Vitamin K keeps blood vessels strong and prevents blood clots.

These greens are also great sources of folate, manganese, chromium, and potassium. Folate prevents heart disease, manganese keeps fatigue away and chromium helps normalize blood pressure and insulin levels.

Some other vegetables that offer nutritional benefits are broccoli, green peppers, parsley, zucchini, asparagus, cucumber, okra, argula and sea vegetables.

Make sure you also add some red to your salad. Besides being rich in Vitamin C, tomatoes provide high levels of lycopine known for preventing and fighting prostrate cancer and other diseases.

Beets are another great red choice. For years they have been used to detoxify and build blood. They are also high in folic acid, iron and calcium. Other red veggies with big nutritional benefits are red bell peppers, chili peppers, red onions, and radicchio.

Many white foods are usually not that nutritional. But that's not true for white vegetables. Cauliflower has many of the nutrients of other cruciferous vegetables. Onions and garlic are also other white vegetables that are considered super foods.

Both onion and garlic are known for lowering blood sugar levels and fighting inflammation. They also have strong antibiotic properties that can be used to fight infections.

In addition they also lower high cholesterol and blood pressure, help prevent heart attack and stroke, reduce colon cancer risk and halt tumor growth. Some other white foods that are healthy to use in salads are mushrooms, jicama and daihon.

By chopping up the ingredients in a salad into small pieces each ingredient is available in every bite and it becomes more appealing to the taste also.

Whatever you put on your salad is just as important as to what you put in it. Most salad dressings sold in traditional and health food groceries are made with polyunsaturated oils. These oils promote Vitamin D deficiency and have been linked to variety of diseases.

Extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar is the best choice for a dressing. Olive oil has been around for thousands of years. It contains monounsaturated fatty acids and is better than canola oil.

Adding sprouts is a good way to increase protein. They are 35% protein. Broccoli sprouts are 26% protein and provide antioxidants power as well as other compounds known to prevent and fight many cancers.

Beans are also another very nutritious choice for adding to salads. They provide additional protein and nutritional benefits as well. Dried beans that have been soaked and cooked can be used in salads made at home.

If you have never been enthused about salads, why not give them a try. You can now see how much nutritional value they can be and how they can help you develop a healthy body.

To your good health,

Sonny Julius

Sonnyj@TheSunnySenior.com

www.AHealthyLifeForSure.com