Natural Society: 7 Health-Boosting Root Vegetables to Add to Your Diet Today

By Christina Sarich, Natural Society, http://naturalsociety.com/7-root-vegetables-add-diet-today/

Vegetables grown in quality soil are not only great for boosting health, they are one of the easiest foods to garden yourself. You can even grow some of these by simply throwing some old food in a pot and infrequently adding water. Each root vegetable is a super food of its own right, offering a host of vitamins, trace minerals, and important disease-preventing benefits.

Here are 7 root vegetables you can start adding to your diet today:

1. Ginger – Growing ginger is quite easy. You can plant this root vegetable in a pot and practically forget about it for an entire year until you are ready to harvest the fragrant, odd shaped plant roots. It’s a tropical plant so you just need to keep the soil moist. As for the health benefits of ginger, the spice can help prevent and reverse cancer, help with inflammatory-related issues, and boost digestive health. Ginger is also great for soothing an upset stomach and taking care of bad breath.

2. Sweet potatoes – This root can be planted from an old potato that has started to sprout. Simply cut off the eye that is starting to grow and throw it in a pot with moist, organic soil. Water occasionally, add a little bulb root fertilizer, and you will have some sweet potatoes in as few as six months. Sweet potatoes are high in potassium, vitamins K, and A, manganese, tryptophan, and beta carotene.

3. Carrots – Long known as the snack of rabbits, this root vegetable is full of eye-sight improving vitamin A, and beta carotene, which has been known to reduce heart disease and certain types of cancer.

4. Parsnips – Closely related to carrots parsnips are rich in vitamin C, folate, choline, manganese, magnesium, and fiber. They can be eaten raw or used in soups and stews, and like many other root vegetables they are easy to grow on your own.

5. Onions – The health benefits of onions should not be ignored. This root vegetable has been shown to fight colon cancer, ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer. It also contains one of the highest levels of polyphenols, a form of phytonutrients, on the planet.

6. Garlic – A great root food for spicing up meals, garlic is also a wonderful blood cleanser, antibacterial, and antioxidant food that is great for boosting the immune system during flu season. It helps with everything from controlling psoriasis, keeping mosquitoes away, and even treating athlete’s foot. It also makes a natural pesticide for your plants and keeps your heart healthy. Check out some other garlic benefits here.

7. Turmeric – A prized root studies now more than ever for its healing abilities, turmeric is so powerful it can stop cancerous tumor growth and stop inflammation-related diseases. Fresh turmeric root is known as an Ayurdevic wonder, positively affecting over 581 different diseases.

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Larissa says:

October 27, 2013 at 8:40 pm

Fanastic list. Ginger and garlic alone would help people’s health immensely if added to their diet on a regular basis. Most people don’t understand that adding a few simple things to their everday meals can have big positive changes to their health.

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