Parsley: Why You Should Eat this Simple Garnish

Parsley: Why You Should Eat this Simple Garnish
Many people treat a garnish as an accessory to a scrumptious meal, a decorative touch to an otherwise plain dish. They eat the food but leave the decorative food behind, thinking that it’s not supposed to be eaten and only used to add a level of aesthetic appeal to the person who will be eating the food. What people don’t know, or simply forget, is that these wonderful meal accessories are packed with essential nutrients.Although common knowledge about garnishes is to eat them unless it’s unpeeled and inedible, a significant number of people are still hesitant to eat these tasty and nutritional itsy bitsies. People have to be constantly reminded that garnishes are not for show, they are also actually there to be taken along with the rest of the dish.Perhaps the most common food garnish is parsley, and is usually used in pasta dishes, rice meals, salads, scrambled eggs, potatoes, fish, and poultry. However, most individuals who lack the technical knowledge about food, herbs in particular, regard parsley as a common herb that has no purpose whatsoever other than to add visual pizzazz to ordinary meals.

The underlying truth, on the other hand, is far from the general public’s perception. Parsley is actually a health wonder, with volatile oil components (myristicin, limonene, eugenol, and alpha-thujene) that stop tumor formation—a very specific attribute that is needed to fight growth of cancerous tumors in the body.

This particular attribute places parsley in the category of chemoprotective foods, which are foods that aid in neutralizing certain types of carcinogens such as the benzopyrenes that are found in cigarette and charcoal grill smoke.

Other components found in parsley called flavonoids (apiin, apigenin, crisoeriol, and andluteolin) are reported to function as antioxidants, which helps fight free radicals attacking the body’s cells, lowering the risk of various forms of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and memory loss.

Just when you think the health benefits will end with the aforementioned attributes, parsley also has considerable amounts of Vitamin A and Vitamin C, which aside from their antioxidant properties, are also essential to a strong and healthy immune system. Individuals prone to getting ear infections and colds would benefit from eating parsley as it helps prevent such conditions from recurring.

The beta-carotene found in Vitamin A may also help lessen the severity of asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Folic acid, which plays a crucial role in maintaining excellent cardiovascular health, can also be found in parsley.

It is also a natural breath freshener, so you can opt to eat it together with the rest of the meal or save it for last to freshen your breath after eating a garlicky dish.

With all these wonderful benefits packed into a tiny garnish, people should definitely think twice before leaving it on the plate to be thrown away. Parsley not only makes a vibrant, flavorful addition to any dish, it is also an exceptional storehouse of potent nutrients that help keep the body in tiptop shape. If more people knew about its health benefits and are more conscious about what they put inside their mouths, then they might not just make it a simple garnish any more but a main ingredient of countless dishes.

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