Artichoke Hearts

Artichoke heats are a bitter tasting vegetable that are packed with health benefits. To me, it tastes similar to a green olive so I never eaten it by itself. The way I prefer to consume them is as a dip, either at a restaurant or my girlfriend throwing down in the kitchen. Anyway, the many health benefits of Artichoke hearts make them a worthy treasure to seek out on a regular basis and consumed whenever possible. For all you meatheads out there, there's a hefty four grams of protein per serving. Anyone wealthy in veggie knowledge would know that's a considerable amount of protein for a vegetable. This is where healthy living can be fun; you find something healthy, the way you prefer it prepared, then add it into your regular dietary patterns.

One of the most researched medicinal properties of artichoke leaf extract is it's ability to fight high cholesterol levels, one of the key pre-cursors to coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in blood vessels). In a double blind study involving 75 participants, the patients received either 1,280 milligrams of standard artichoke leaf extract or a placebo daily for twelve weeks; the treatment group recorded a 20% reduction in total cholesterol whereas the placebo group only changed 4.2%.

The three properties that stand out to me the most is the artichokes' high antioxidant content, it contains a long list of high profile antioxidants; Quercetin, Rutin, Anthocyanins, Gallic acid, Silymarin. I'll get into the benefits of these antioxidants in another article, but for now lets focus on the veggie at hand.

The second great thing about Artichokes is their antibacterial anti-fungal

Artichokes also have an abundance of amino acids as well. With about 5.5 grams of amino acids per 100 calories, 22% of the calories in artichokes come from protein. There leaves offer about 60% as much protein content as beef, but without the cholesterol, saturated fat, heterocyclic amines, and other harmful compounds associated with meat.

The biggest things you should walk away from this post with is that this is a very healthy veggie that I think should be incorporated in everyone's diet regularly. There are only benefits associated with it and no downside other than the taste and that can be easily be modified to be enjoyable if mixed with the right ingredients.

Ath