Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagle and you're listening to the nutrition

diva quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous. Parsley, sage,

rosemary and and time.

Sure, it's a great tune by Simon and Garfunkel.

And if you add a little buttermilk or some red wine vinegar,

it would make a nice marinade or a salad dressing.

But it's also a prescription for good health. This week I want to talk about

herbs and why these potent little plants deserve a place in your garden and on your

plate. First of all, like virtually all leafy green plants, herbs are quite nutritious, but ounce

for ounce, fresh herbs are among the most nutritious greens you can find.

Compared with the same amount of lettuce, for example, raw parsley gives you three times as much

vitamin A, four times as much calcium, five times as much iron, seventeen times as much vitamin K,

and 44 times as much vitamin K and

and similarly the total antioxidant capacity of fresh oregano

is eight times higher than spinach. Of course we tend to eat lettuce and spinach by the cupful and

parsley and oregano by the pinchful so maybe it's not exactly a fair comparison

but you get the idea. Herbs are a very concentrated source of both flavor and nutrition.

In both respects, a little goes a long way.

Herbs are also very rich in a wide range of disease-fighting phytochemicals.

Almost all green herbs have potent antibacterial and

anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, parsley contains compounds that inhibit

tumor formation. Compounds in dill help neutralize carcinogens.

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