Vegetables include a wide variety of edible plants, in contrast to fruits which are botanically defined as anything having a seed or seeds.
Carrots and beets may seem familiar to you. True plant roots can be found in earthy foods like carrots and beets. According to Steve Reiners, a horticulture professor at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, lettuce and spinach are the leaves, celery and asparagus are the stems, and greens like broccoli, artichokes, and cauliflowers are immature blossoms.
According to Reiners, the contentious crops are botanically considered fruits, and this includes peppers and tomatoes, which are grown from flowers. Based on their anatomy, cucumbers, eggplants, squash, and avocados are also considered fruit, according to the European Food Information Council.
Vegetables? What exactly are they?
The term vegetable does not have a clear definition when it comes to botany. Nevertheless, according to Reiners, a vegetable is any herbaceous plant that goes through its entire life cycle in one growing season, whether it’s eaten raw or cooked, as part of the main course of a meal, and not as a snack or dessert. This definition is used in horticulture, the science of cultivating garden crops.
The legal definition of a vegetable vs a fruit — at least in the United States — was defined during a 19th century US Supreme Court case that concluded that the tomato is a vegetable.
While veggies are actually just the roots, stems and leaves of plants, experts don’t recommend eating just any roots, stems and leaves.
One example is rhubarb. The fleshy stalk is the edible part of the plant, but the leaves are deadly, Reiners explained. Stay safe by eating plants that grocery stores often term veggies.
“We know (vegetables) are healthy. We know the vitamin content, we know the mineral content,” Reiners said. “We know how much fiber is in all of it.
“We also know that the vegetables that you either grow or you’re purchasing at a farmers market or grocery store are safe to eat,” he said.
Eat your vegetables
By recognizing the many elements of vegetables and the nutrients they bring, people may eat well, according to Sherri Stastny, a registered dietitian and a professor in the department of health, nutrition and sports sciences at North Dakota State University.
A head of broccoli is a terrific source of nutrition, but the stem of the green, which is more usually thrown out, is also rich in fiber and nutrients, Stastny noted. The regular consumption of flowering vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower have been discovered to be connected with a decrease in the incidence of cancer, she stated.
“Heart disease is still the No. 1 killer in the United States, and we know that if you eat enough fruits and vegetables, you lower your risk for heart disease — and that goes along with obesity, diabetes and all these other chronic diseases,” Stastny added.
It is crucial to eat a variety of veggies as each one will have various beneficial components, she explained. Dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale are fantastic providers of specific phytonutrients, natural compounds from plants that are helpful to human health, that aid to retain keen eye vision, while carrots will help to increase night vision.
“If you think of the richest, darkest, most colorful vegetables, that’s where you’re going to find those (nutrients),” Stastny said, while potassium-rich vegetables and fruit, such as potatoes, pumpkin and squash, could assist to lower and maintain blood pressure.
‘Start them young’
For parents wanting to get young kids to eat their fruits and veggies, breaking down the anatomy of the plant, while describing the colors, taste and feel, could be a fun and instructive way of introducing the nutrient-dense foods to the early explorers.
“Start them young,” Stastny remarked. “If you introduce children to vegetables at a younger age … they’re more likely to eat vegetables throughout their lifespan and therefore decrease the risk of chronic disease.
