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Sunday, May 29, 2011

More about Dandelions

This is a piece of information I copied from another website. Since it was an informative page, I didn't think he would mind.


Dandelion Nutritional Value

The nutritional content of the Dandelion plant is exceptional. The entire plant is usable from the root all the way up to the beautiful flower, including the stems and leaves.
I especially like the tea produced by roasting the roots, but the leaves and flowers have that distinct pungent flavor as do the ilk of healthy vegetables like collards, spinach, chards, etc. If you think about calcium and phosphor when eating the Dandelion, you'll understand why it has the flavor it does. You are tasting health. The Dandelion has, in addition to fiber, the following particularly good concentration of:
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  • Phosphorous
  • Calcium
More specifically, look at this chart on percentages and other information (Serving of 55grams):
  • Calories: 25 (from fat 3)
  • Total fat: 0 grams or 1%
  • Saturated fats: 0%
  • Cholesterol: 0mg
  • Sodium: 42mg
  • Carbohydrates: 5grams
  • Dietary Fiber: 2grams
  • Sugars: 0grams
  • Protein: 1gram
and
  • Vitamin A: 112%
  • Vitamin C: 32%
  • Calcium: 10%
  • Iron: 9%
It makes me wonder that if early sailors had known of this plant, would they have been inflicted with scurvy? For one thing, they'd not had to carry limes only, but could have had dried Dandelions which would store well and as far as I know, would retain at least some of the vitamin C. However, I'll need to research that concept to see if the C actually is retained or is it lost during drying. I don't see why it would be lost because drying is not the same as cooking. The roots are roasted to create the tea, but the leaves and flowers are easily dried and stored for reconstituting later when placed in soups, stir fry, or crumpled over salads. I would not cook them into the soup, but instead, place them in the soups once the soups is already cooked and allow the dried Dandies to absorb the juices of the soup. Toss in a few earth worms for protein and mmm mmm good! OK, maybe I'm not ready for earth worms, but in a pinch, if stranded somewhere, I could probably do it since they would be cooked and I'd hardly notice them mixed in with all the other wild herbs and flowers like Horse Tail, and Lambs Quarter.

1 comment:

  1. LOL Will watch your blog for upcoming Dandelion/Earthworm stir fry or stew :-)

    On a serious note...very cool info! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete