Which Vegetables Are Best?

It’s hard to go wrong when eating vegetables, especially if you choose those that appeal to you. However, if you want to take your health up a notch, opt for vegetables that are locally grown, organic, and in season. This will ensure you’re getting the freshest vegetables without added toxins, like pesticides.

Growing your own vegetables is one of the best ways to get inexpensive fresh produce. Replace your lawn or shrubs with a vegetable garden — just be careful about your local zoning laws – or use containers. If a garden is not feasible, join a local food coop or frequent farmers’ markets (many of these now accept food stamps, too).

Generally speaking, you can eat as many green leafy vegetables as you want while high-sugar vegetables (like beets and carrots) should be eaten in moderation. My recommended list of vegetables provides a guide to the most nutritious vegetables, and those to limit due to their high carbohydrate content.

If you want more details about the specific nutrients and health benefits of different veggies, we've compiled an extensive review of the health benefits of vegetables in our Mercola Food Facts Library. However, as a general guide, the following list of vegetables details some of the best and worst vegetables for your health.
Eating Enough Vegetables Lowers Your Risk of Cancer and Premature Death
As mentioned, eating vegetables isn’t only important for reducing your risk of breast cancer. This is one health habit that can lower your risk of multiple types of cancer as well as your risk of numerous chronic diseases. One study found:14

Those who ate five to seven servings of vegetables and fruits per day had a 36 percent lower risk of dying from any cause
Three to five servings was associated with a 29 percent lower risk
One to three servings was associated with a 14 percent lower risk
But perhaps most strikingly of all, people who ate seven or more portions of vegetables and fruit a day had a 42 percent lower risk of dying from any cause, compared to those who ate less than one portion. They also enjoyed a 31 percent lower risk of heart disease and a 25 percent lower risk of cancer. Vegetables had a larger protective effect than fruits.

So while consuming small amounts of whole fruit is fine (and even beneficial) if you’re healthy, your focus should be on vegetables. When broken down by vegetables only, each additional daily portion of fresh veggies lowered participants’ risk of death by 16 percent compared to 4 percent for fresh fruit.

The fact of the matter is vegetables contain an array of antioxidants and other disease-fighting compounds that are very difficult to get anywhere else. Plant chemicals called phytochemicals can reduce inflammation and eliminate carcinogens, while others regulate the rate at which your cells reproduce, get rid of old cells and maintain DNA. Vegetables are also one of the best forms of dietary fiber.

Luteolin in Celery May Lower Breast Cancer Risk

Luteolin is an anti-inflammatory plant compound found in certain vegetables, including celery, peppers, and carrots. It’s previously been linked with lower rates of age-related memory loss in mice.2

And now researchers have found it may slow the development of breast cancer – particularly that caused by hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

In the past, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was widely prescribed for treating menopausal symptoms and even for preventive purposes, based in part on early observational studies that had suggested it could help protect women against heart disease, weak bones, as well as dementia.

All of that changed in 2002, when the 15-year Women's Health Initiative (WHI) abruptly ended its combination of estrogen and progestin therapy study because their data revealed higher rates of breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots in the population taking the hormones compared to those receiving a placebo.

Researchers from the featured study explained that benign lesions in breast tissues may turn into tumors if they received a “trigger” such as progestin, which attracts blood vessels and “feeds” the lesions, allowing them to expand.

When this occurs, the breast cancer cells “take on stem cell-like properties, which can make them harder to kill,” the study’s lead researcher stated.3However, when breast cancer cells were exposed to luteolin in the lab, their viability markedly decreased.4

Not only did the blood vessels feeding the cells decline significantly, but also their “stem cell-like properties” were reduced, resulting in an anti-tumor effect. The researchers then tested luteolin on mice with breast cancer and similar benefits were observed.

The researchers are hoping to develop a luteolin-based drug that could be injected into the bloodstream to fight aggressive and hard-to-treat forms of breast cancer.

However they suggested that, in the meantime, women continue eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. In addition to celery, peppers and carrots, luteolin is also found in thyme, parsley, and broccoli.