fiber (1 cooked cup of any of the aforementioned supplies between 3 and 6 g) and calcium (100 to 250 mg per cup).
Greens may also be good for your heart, thanks to the folate they contain. This B vitamin appears to lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that in high amounts can raise heart disease risk.
Research shows getting 400 mcg of folate a day can lower homocysteine by 25 percent (a cup of cooked turnip greens contains 170 mcg).
Eat up: Unless you’ve grown up with greens, you may consider them an acquired taste, but prepared just right, they’re delicious! Use them in entrées, sandwiches, and salads. Or simply toss mustard, collard, or beet greens with artichoke hearts and sauté in olive oil.
2. Beans
Beans have more to boast about than being high in fiber (plant compounds that help you feel full, steady blood sugar, and even lower cholesterol; a half cup of black beans delivers more than 7 grams).
They’re a not-too-shabby source of calcium, a mineral that research shows can help burn body fat.
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In ½ cup of white beans, you’ll get almost 100 mg of calcium—about 10% of your daily intake. Beans also make an excellent protein source, unlike other proteins, Americans commonly eat (such as red meat), beans are low in saturated fat—the kind that gunks up arteries and can lead to heart disease.
Eat up: Add them to salads, soups, chili, and more. There are so many different kinds of beans, you could conceivably have them every day for a week and not eat the same kind twice.
3. Lentils
Like their bean cousins, lentils are loaded with fiber—1 cup cooked contains a whopping 16 g. That same cup also delivers close to 360 mcg of folate, just shy of the 400 that adults need each day. If you’re not a meat person, lentils are a good alternative source of