Is Sarson Ka Saag Healthy? (Cooked Mustard Greens)

Cooked Mustard Greens OR Sarson ka saag

Sarson ka saag is one of the favourite winter foods in North India. Let's see if it is healthy.

Sarson patte or mustard greens are extremely low in calories and high in antioxidants as many other dark green leaves.
There is a misconception that antioxidants are lost when the leaves are cooked, but because of loss of water the density goes up. On top of that, the antinutrients like oxalates are proven to be reduced when greens are cooked.

As per USDA nutrition database
1 cup (240ml) of sarson ka saag (cooked) (without oil) has
96% of DV of Vitamin A
690% of DV of vitamin K
0.7 g fat
6g carbs out of which 2.8g fibre
3.6g protein
-------------
Only 37 calories

(DV is daily value or recommended daily intake)

Vitamin K is an antioxidant which is found nearly exclusively in dark green leaves and one of the major reasons to add salad to diet nutritionally. Unlike vitamin C it is not reduced when cooked hence the saag or bhuji preparation of seasonal greens is extremely healthy and antioxidant rich.

So you can skip the salad this day 😊

Other balanced preparations:
Saag paneer and Saag chicken are known ways to add protein to this dish making it an extremely healthy dish which is both protein and antioxidants rich and can easily carry a lot of carbs (makki ki roti) and still end up in a balanced dish.
Even when eating out, as the gravy is antioxidant rich, pick this preparation over the usual tomato gravy when you can.

Vegans can add high protein tofu for the same results.

In this plate I am having 2 rotis, some veg and
I have 75g paneer in saag to balance this plate.

I started this series as there is not much faith in local food among people. I hope we bring native Indian food combinations to focus again, with right proof behind them.

References:
1) Effect of different cooking methods on vegetable oxalate content. Chai W et al; 2005
2) USDA nutrition database

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