Peas Nutrition
Peas, Nutrition and Your Diet
When you eat peas, nutrition may not be on your mind, but it's in the peas. Green peas come in several forms, but each has a delicious, vibrant flavor. They also possess an easy-to-eat texture and an abundance of nutrients that promote good health. Garden peas are usually in season from late spring until the beginning of winter.
Peas are legumes, which are plants bearing fruit in pods, which enclose the “beans”, or seeds. Not many members of the legume family are sold as fresh vegetables, but peas are. Interestingly, ninety-five percent of peas harvested are not sold fresh – they are canned or frozen. However you buy them, there are important minerals and vitamins in peas. Nutrition is one of the best reasons to choose peas for your family. Frozen peas are healthier than the canned varieties, since they have a lower salt content and retain more of their fresh flavor.
Green peas' nutrition comes from bountiful minerals, fiber, protein and vitamins. They can help you charge up your energy level and improve your overall health.
Green peas can provide you with nutrients that are helpful in maintaining your body's bone health. They're an excellent vitamin K source, and this is a vitamin that our body uses to improve its mineralization in bones. They are also a good source of vitamin B6 and folic acid. These two combined nutrients can help you reduce excess homocysteine, which is a dangerous molecule that allows your body to succumb to osteoporosis.
Homocysteine also contributes to atherosclerosis, by damaging blood vessels. The vitamin B6 and folic acid in peas support cardiovascular health. And those aren't the only ways that peas' nutrition can help you keep your body in peak condition. Peas' vitamin K is important to the body's ability to maintain healthy blood clotting.
If you feel tired and sluggish, include peas in your diet. They provide valuable nutrients to help the energy-producing systems and cells of your body. Peas are a good source of vitamins B1, B3 and B6, and these are all needed for your body to metabolize lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. Iron is found in peas, and this is a mineral you need for blood cells' functions. If you have an iron deficiency, this can result in decreased immune function, decreased immune activity, fatigue and anemia.
Green peas provide your body with vitamin C, which can help protect cells that produce energy, and your body systems, from damage by free radicals. The body tissues that benefit the most from peas' nutrition with respect to vitamin C include connective tissues, the immune system, liver, ocular lens and adrenal glands. Buy fresh peas or grow them yourselves, for a healthy family staple food.