3 Green Vegetables Better Than Supermarket Milk

Do celebrities with milk moustaches make you want to reach for a tall glass of the white stuff?

The dairy industry is seducing you into drinking milk by featuring movie stars and sports heroes who probably don’t even drink milk themselves. Milk is sold to us as the ultimate health food. But the truth is that the milk on your supermarket shelf is no longer the fresh raw milk our great-grandmothers might have consumed. It’s now a manufactured food, pasteurized and homogenized, and likely to have pesticides, hormones and antibiotics.

The dairy industry also tells us that milk is the best food source for calcium for strong bones. But, in most of the world’s cultures, adults don’t drink milk because they lack the enzyme to metabolize the lactose in milk. Yet they have less osteoporosis than we have. Many people can’t digest milk or just don’t like the taste. So how about trading your milk moustache for a green one? After all, cows build their big bones from eating grass. Why shouldn’t we? Here are five types of greens to sit or chew on for better health.

1. Leafy greens

Green leafy vegetables are rich in nutrients and fiber and low in calories. As a general rule, the darker the green, the more health benefits you get. Try kale, watercress, arugula, collards and parsley, amongst others. In fact, some of the most nutritious greens you can buy are not even green, but reddish, purple or brown-green.

2. Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, mustard greens, cauliflower and many more

The flowers of these crucifers have four petals arranged in the shape of a cross. (Many leafy greens are also crucifers). Crucifers have more health benefits compared to many other families of fruits and vegetables. The problem is the bitter or spicy taste of many crucifers is too strong for some people. Crucifers are rich in antioxidants, which make them one of the most powerful foods you can eat to guard against cancer. That’s a good reason to add them to your green moustache regimen. Many of the leafy green and cruciferous vegetables have calcium absorption rates of 40-60 percent compared with about 32 percent for milk. One to two cups of bok choy, collard greens, spinach and broccoli rabe (rapini) have roughly the same amount of calcium as a cup of skim milk and your body absorbs them better.

3. Green alliums. Green onions, leeks, scallions, shallots and garlic (although not completely green) are in the allium family

They have been celebrated throughout history as immune-boosting vegetables and condiments. They long have been considered lifesaving medicines, used by traditional cultures to treat infected wounds and as a general tonic for colds, sore throats and the flu.

4. Green superfoods

Some of the highest calcium content in whole foods come from the oceans. Spirulina, Nova Scotia dulse, kelp and chlorella have the highest percentage of calcium content listed in whole foods, from 0.86 percent calcium to 1.1 percent (compared with 0.21 percent from milk). Wheatgrass, barley grass and many other land grasses and sea vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, amino acids and enzymes. They are highly alkalizing and naturally detoxifying. Chlorophyll-rich plant foods also have Vitamin K, which is important for strong bone formation and helps to reduce cortisol stress hormone levels. What’s more, many contain high levels of proteins, a benefit for vegetarians and vegans.

5. Green tea

Studies show that green tea can improve cardiovascular health, enhance immune function, reduce inflammation and reduce the risk of certain cancers. Green tea is one of the least processed types of teas, so it retains the natural chemicals that provide anti-inflammatory health benefits. Green tea has no calories, and only a small amount of caffeine, depending on the length of time you infuse it. This makes green tea a perfect green moustache source–-as long as it’s not too hot! You also can make peppermint or spearmint teas from fresh leaves or tea bags. They are known to ease digestive issues and promote health in many ways, while giving you a fragrant green moustache.