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Green is the Color of Nutrition |
On the recent trip to the produce market, we couldn’t help but noticed the incredible variety of greens that are available today-compared to the pale, white, mostly water, iceberg lettuce that was the only game in town when we were growing up.
Who had ever heard of arugula or radicchio or endive? And watercress was something that was not very enticing and found on little finger sandwiches. Spinach was punishment food that always over-cooked and only Popeye really enjoyed it.
Some regional cuisines in United States have always included nutrient-rich cooked greens, but the move to darker, more nutritious greens in salads has been a more recent trend.
And this is very good thing because with the emphasis in the American diet shifting away from high fat foods and towards more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, it is necessary to get more out of greens than iceberg lettuce can offer, and salads are wonderful way to do this.
Iceberg lettuce is just a little more nutritious than water. It has very little Vitamin A (converted from beta carotene), Vitamin C or Calcium. The only salad green that ranks as low (or lower, in some cases) is Belgian endive.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are dandelion greens and kale, which are so high in some nutrients, that you can actually meet a lot of your daily needs with them alone. When people talk about “greens” they often mean leafy green vegetables, which are meant to be cooked. Lettuce on the hand is what we refer to as salad greens and is almost always eaten raw. However, the small, young leaves of almost any greens can be used in salad; they not only will add variety, but will raise the nutritional value enormously.
Although many greens are well known and a few are regional favorites, there are some less common varieties that often go unnoticed except in trendy, gourmet shops and restaurants.
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Child Wants his Parents Together |
Question: My son is seven-years-old and does very well in school. I was a very young mother and his father was gone from his life for about two and a half years before getting visitation rights. He spends most of his visits with his grandmother and when he returns he always has a false hope that his father and I are going to be together someday. But when he is with me the subject is never brought up. Then he called me, while on one of his visits, and said that his dad still loved me. He wanted to know why I don’t love him. Is he old enough to know the truth about the break-up? Thank you for your advice.
Answer: Your son is being placed in an unhealthy triangle between you and his father. From your testimony, it appears that his dad and perhaps his grandmother have been fueling his attempts to get you and his dad back together. A child will often take on this position, even thinking that he is to blame for the separation or divorce of his parents. Your son should never have the burden of that blame. But in your family’s case, his father seems to be the one placing your son in the role of matchmaker.
Don’t offer all the details of your break-up to him. What he does need to know, however, is that you and his father do not love each other anymore and that you will never get back together again. That does not mean that you both do not love him or will not act with respect toward each other. This can be conveyed in an age-appropriate manner without condemning his father or giving him the whole truth behind your break-up. Perhaps he could better understand how you don’t want to be with his dad if you compared it to something that has happened in his life. For example, if he’s had good friends that he decided were not his good friends anymore, so he broke off his friendship with them.
Ideally, you and his father should attend a few therapy sessions together with a family therapist who has counseled couples in similar situations. Perhaps his dad could be persuaded that it’s best for his son to come to an understanding about the finality of his relationship with you. A talented therapist can do this without making his dad feel like the “bad guy.” Everyone needs to be saying the same words to him about the nature of your complicated relationship. Please get your son the help that he needs. If you don’t seek help, your son will become more and more obsessed with the notion that he must get you back together again.
