Are All Vegetables Good For You?

We all know that we are supposed to eat our vegetables. “Eat more vegetables,” is probably the most common piece of nutritional advice you will receive, regardless of what diet you are trying. But are all vegetables good for you?

Across the board, vegetables are rich in plant nutrients you can’t get anywhere else, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. And most of us do not eat enough vegetables. Instead, many people rely on foods like fast food, convenience store food, and processed foods that resemble nothing found in nature. These foods are often void of nutrition while being high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, sodium, preservatives, and unhealthy fats. It isn’t difficult to see why so many people suffer from so many chronic health problems that are related to diet; it is also no surprise that we are constantly encouraged to enjoy more vegetables in our diet. 

The Kaufmann Diet encourages lots of vegetables, in addition to lean meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, limited dairy, and certain fruits. Vegetables should certainly comprise a bulk of what you are eating. But are all vegetables included on the Kaufmann Diet?

Vegetables include a broad spectrum of foods; included are foods like broccoli, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and many, many more. Vegetables also include leafy, green foods like romaine, parsley, lettuces, and turnip greens. All of these foods are encouraged on the Kaufmann Diet. Other types of foods that are considered vegetables or mistaken as vegetables fall into some other categories though, and this is where you have to start paying more attention.

Foods like potatoes and sweet potatoes. are considered tubers, or root vegetables. Root vegetables are high in carbohydrates and sugar, which is one thing The Kaufmann Diet tries to limit. Most forms of potatoes are eliminated entirely from the diets, but sweet potatoes are relegated to Kaufmann Two in moderation. The one exception is carrots, which are encouraged on both diets. This is because carrots are rich in the anti-fungal nutrient, falcarinol. 

Beans are another example of foods that are often considered vegetables; beans, however, are legumes, and many of them are rich in carbohydrates. Beans, including green beans, are relegated to The Kaufmann Two Diet as well, where they can be a good source of protein and fiber. 

There are some other foods that get mistaken for vegetables when they are not, and these should be avoided regardless of which diet you are on. These foods include corn, which is a grain, and mushrooms, which are fungi. Corn is known to be contaminated with fungal poisons which can be dangerous for our health. It is also high in carbohydrates and sugar. Corn and anything made with corn should be avoided entirely on The Kaufmann Diet. As fungi, mushrooms are simply excluded from The Kaufmann anti-fungal program. All fungi can make poisons under the right conditions; anything that is a fungus or contains a fungus (think foods with yeast, or truffle oil, or myco-protein) should be avoided altogether while on The Kaufmann Diet. 

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