We all know that for protecting your health, you can’t do much better than eating lots of greens, right? Typically load them raw into my smoothies each morning for a power-packed breakfast. But now that fall is here, and winter is fast approaching, a meal of piping hot greens sounds inviting.

I wondered, though, are hot greens as nutritious as raw, served cold in a smoothie? My research took me to Dr. Michael Greger, MD (eminent researcher and author of HOW NOT TO DIE, HOW NOT TO DIET, and HOW TO SURVIVE A PANDEMIC).

He, too, is a big fan of greens—raw, cold, hot—any way he can get ‘em. His thorough research answered my question. While raw greens provide a little more nutrients per se, cooked greens provide more bio-availability of those nutrients, due to the softening of their cell structures. In other words, the body has an easier time accessing the nutrients from COOKED greens.

So the next question was, “What’s the best way to cook them, then?” Boiling, sauteeing, microwaving, pressure cooking, steaming?” Once again, Dr. Greger came to the rescue. In a nutshell: steaming is best. But he found that even better is pressure steaming. Pressure steaming is best because of all the cooking methods, it’s the quickest.

Dr. Greger says you want to add a layer of water at the bottom of an electric pressure cooker, drop in a metal steaming basket, then put in the greens and steam them. That’s how he cooks his greens every day. He says that tough-skinned collards are especially tasty cooked this way; they end up with a melt-in-your-mouth texture simply by steaming them under pressure for zero minutes.

Zero minutes? Yes. Just set the pressure cooker to zero so your cooker shuts off as soon as it reaches the cooking pressure, then immediately open the quick-release valve to release the steam. The greens turn out tender, a bright emerald, and cooked to perfection. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

To continue the “greens conversation,” Dr. Greger says eating copious amounts of appetite-satisfying greens helps us not overeat. He explains that one of the biggest reasons why people overeat is because they are malnourished.

While most of us certainly aren’t lacking macronutrients (carbs and protein), it’s the micronutrients found in whole plant-based foods that most diets lack. Without these essential antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, the satiation center in the brain is never satisfied—the body never feels like it has had enough to eat.

So, if you’re wanting to lose weight, and lose it faster, the answer is to eat more micronutrients, especially in the morning. Seriously consider a bowl of steaming greens for breakfast. You’ll love how you’ll feel satisfied longer. Also, the temptation to snack on unhealthy foods throughout the day will be greatly suppressed!

If you’re keen for more green in your diet (sorry, couldn’t help myself), here’s a simple and tasty recipe to get you started. I found this on www.oneingredientchef.com and thank its creator, Andrew Olson for sharing.

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