Even the legendary Hippocrates considered many plants not only as a source of nutrition, but also as a natural medicine, measured by nature itself in doses necessary for the body. This is confirmed by life itself. It is known that many peoples of the countries of Asia, Africa, America, in whose food numerous types of vegetable plants are more widely used, do not know obesity, atherosclerosis, diabetes and many other diseases common in our country. Japan, with more than 180 types of “vegetable menu”, has the longest life expectancy in the world.
However, one does not have to go that far for an example; it can be found in our country. The inhabitants of mountainous Dagestan, which is famous for its long-livers, constantly eat a variety of cultural and wild-growing green plants - fresh in summer and dried in winter. If you calculate the diet of a Dagestan centenarian, it turns out that he uses 500 g of such plants per day. Isn't this one of the secrets of the fact that 86 out of a thousand people here reach a century?
The role of vegetables in preventing excess weight is indispensable, which is associated with a firmly rooted tendency in our country to excessive consumption of high-calorie foods in conditions of gradually decreasing physical activity, which negatively affects metabolism, sharply worsens health, the body's resistance to diseases that reduce human performance. The inclusion of vegetables in the diet makes it more harmonious, improves digestion, digestibility of food and eliminates overeating. Moreover, many types of vegetable plants are so unique in chemical composition and beneficial effects that they have on the human body that the exclusion of even one of them from the diet “closes up a whole storehouse” of vitamin and medicinal reserves, vital for good nutrition.
It is the content of vitamins, hormones and enzymes or, as they are often called, biocatalysts, as well as mineral and spicy substances, that determines the main value of vegetables as food products, since in terms of calorie content they are inferior to many other products of plant and animal origin.
So, on average, an adult needs to receive from 2500 to 4000 kcal per day with food, depending on energy costs, which are determined in turn by the degree of activity of his lifestyle and the nature of work. The calorific value of 1 kg of fresh green peas, sweet corn and potatoes is only 750-940 kcal; watermelon, melon, cabbage, onion, root vegetables (except radish) - 300-500 kcal; cucumber, tomato, pepper, eggplant, spinach, lettuce and pumpkin - 150-270 kcal; thermal energy 1 kg beef and of bread is 2000 kcal, and fat - 8800 kcal. On average, it is believed that a kilogram of vegetables contains 837-209 kJ, while the energy potential of a similar amount of meat and fat is 8400 and 36 960 kJ, respectively.
However, in the collection of kilocalories from a unit area, vegetable crops are not inferior to cereals. For example, wheat gives an average of 1 sq. m 870, and a tomato 1254 kcal. But it turned out that this is not the most important thing, since in the final analysis it is not so much the yield in terms of caloric content that is important, as the yield of vitamins from 1 m2 of vegetable crops.
Vitamins are a group of biologically active organic compounds contained in very small doses and necessary for the normal functioning of the body. Unlike basic nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, mineral salts), vitamins are not energy sources and plastic materials. They are necessary as essential components of metabolism. Vegetables are the main source of vitamins.In the human body, vitamins are catalysts for biochemical reactions and regulators of basic physiological processes, metabolism, growth, reproduction. Due to vitamins, vegetables also contribute to a more rational use of protein in the process of human nutrition.
In this regard, in recent years in many countries of the world, vegetables have become increasingly important. Particular attention is paid to the production and consumption of a whole group of vegetables, united under the gener