Is Sarson Ka Saag Healthy? (Cooked Mustard Greens)

bhuvan.rastogi

· 26 Jan 2022

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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#Health #healthylifestyle #bhuvanrastogi #healthyliving #healthcoach #protips #healthtips #routine #nutritionist #facts #foryou #fitness #healthychoice

Comments (9)
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Rudy Siedlecki 🌳

3 years ago

Mustard vegetables, that was completely unknown to me. I had to look it up for a while and with us it is better known as 'Chinese iceberg slaw'.

Reply Translated from Dutch Show original

Daniel

3 years ago

It looks great! rich to be appetizing to taste all its flavor and mix go a good combination of ingredients to blend

Reply Translated from Spanish Show original

Leo 1

3 years ago

Nice post. I read it with interest. Mustard plants are sometimes sown in fields by farmers in the Netherlands to absorb toxins from the soil. I've never heard that one can eat these plants too. The seeds are, of course, used for mustard preparation. So this is a story that gives me a new look at these mustard plants.

Reply Translated from Dutch Show original

roxana_ac

3 years ago

Great blog! Yes, since I am in India I learned to used the mustard seeds, even the mustard oil, great to know all this information about it, I did not know about the mustard seeds before because in Argentina we also don't use much.

naf1971naf

3 years ago

It is not common to get mustard seeds in the country, I think it's harder to find the leaves I've read on other occasions about the great benefits of mustard, it seems to me @bhuvan.rastogi your initiative to share and promote Indian food

Reply Translated from Spanish Show original