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The Nutritional Excellence of Green Foods
Bob Terry, PhD, Technical Service Director, Green Foods Corporation
Experts have long touted the nutritional excellence of green foods including young barley grass because of their amazing nutrient density and variety which are unsurpassed by any other type of food on the planet. Barley grass is one of the premier green foods researched extensively by Green Foods Corporation founder and owner, Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara. Research by Dr. Hagiwara and others has demonstrated potential benefits of barley grass supplementation including increased energy levels, antioxidant protection, enhanced digestion, and support for the cardiovascular system.
Fresh, young barley grass juice contains all known essential nutrients (except vitamin D) in addition to a variety of potentially beneficial phytochemicals. However, one of the most common questions consumers ask us is: how does the nutrition of your products compare to fresh whole vegetables." Consumers want to know if they are receiving the nutritional equivalent of a serving or more of fresh vegetables by taking our products.
To better understand the nutritional equivalency of our products, nutrition of our products, we compared the nutrients in servings of fresh garden vegetables including alfalfa, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, lettuce, spinach and tomatoes with those in a serving of Green Magma, Green Magma Plus, and Veggie Magma. The data for the vegetables was obtained from nutritional analyses performed by third-party laboratories and data published by the USDA.
Because of the current concerns over the amount of carbohydrates in the diet, we compared the nutrient content per gram of carbohydrates of combined servings of different vegetables to servings of Green Magma (Tables 1-5), Magma Plus (Table 6) and Veggie Magma (Tables 7-11).
RESULTS
GREEN MAGMAŽ
Green Magma contained higher levels of vitamin A, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B3, magnesium, and calcium than single servings of select vegetables (Figures 1- 6).
When compared with different types of salads, Green Magma had higher levels of a variety of nutrients and fewer grams of carbohydrates ( Tables 1-5). For example, in Table 1, one serving (2 teaspoons) of Green Magma contains more vitamin A than a large salad (4 cups) of alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, and tomato.
MAGMA PLUS®
Comparing single servings of Green Magma Plus to single servings of different vegetables, Green Magma Plus contained greater amounts of vitamin A, vitamins C, B1, B2, B3, B6, pantothenic acid, magnesium and calcium than 9 or more of the 10 vegetables measured (Figures 7-15).
When compared to a 4.5 cup salad of alfalfa sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, and tomato, Green Magma Plus had 5 grams fewer carbohydrates and contained more vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, and pantothenic acid and almost the same magnesium (Table 6).
VEGGIE MAGMA®
Compared to different combinations of vegetables, Veggie Magma contains greater amounts of vitamins A, C, B1, B6 and calcium and fewer grams of carbohydrates (Tables 7-11). For example, Veggie Magma contains 1,440 IU of vitamin A (as beta carotene) and 4 grams of carbohydrates, compared to 1,377 IU of vitamin A and 14.2 grams of carbohydrates in 4.5 cups of a salad containing alfalfa sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato!
CONCLUSION
Using the selected nutrients as markers of overall nutrient content, the results indicate that a single serving of Green Magma, Magma Plus or Veggie Magma provides a more concentrated and convenient source of essential nutrition than several servings of a well rounded salad.
Another important finding with our comparisons, was that our products are low in carbohydrates compared to the amount of vegetables needed to provide the same amounts of essential nutrients. This is an important consideration for people on low carbohydrate diets and for those concerned about their weight.
Finally, we do not suggest that you forego fresh vegetables for our supplements; we advocate instead that you eat as many fresh vegetables as possible together with supplements from Green Foods for maximal benefit. Fresh, raw vegetables together with daily servings of Green Magma, Magma Plus, Veggie Magma or or our other products, will help ensure you receive optimal nutrition. Not only will you support your health but you will also experience greater energy and vitality.
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