Live It Articles Lutein: Not Just For Eyes

Score one more for green leafy vegetables. Lutein, a carotenoid that colors spinach, kale, collards, and their cousins, has had positive reviews in the news, lately.

Research has shown that lutein may protect eyes from macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness in the elderly. Research has shown that lutein may also keep arteries from clogging. Popeye was getting more than that surge of energy when he ate his spinach and so will you. Eat more spinach! I love fresh lemon juice on mine.

It has occurred to me that First Place members might eat more of the "free" vegetables (page 51, Member’s Guide) if they could count them as a vegetable on the Commitment Record (CR). I hear from several First Place members every week who tell me that if they are going to eat those "free veggies," they want to count them. The free vegetables, when eaten raw, have less than 25 calories per one cup serving. They were not put there to punish us, it was to give us additional foods, with very few calories, yet many members want to count these vegetables when they eat them. Zucchini should have the word "cooked" after it in the top list on that page, because it really takes about 1-1/4 cups to make 25 calories. That is why you also see Zucchini (raw) on the "Free Vegetable" list. Cooked zucchini made the Vegetable list because a 1/2-cup serving has at least 25 calories. First Place is not just concerned with calories; it takes more than one cup of raw vegetables on the "Free Vegetable" list to
consume the nutrients that you expect from a vegetable.

I have done some research and listed below the amounts you need to consume for some of the vegetables on the FREE list to qualify them as a vegetable on your CR. The amounts listed below are for raw vegetables:

• Alfalfa sprouts 2 –1/2 cups
• Lettuce 3 cups
• Cabbage 1-1/2 cups    
• Celery 1-1/2 cups    
• Chinese Cabbage 2 cups    
• Cress, garden 1-1/2 cups    
• Cucumber 2 cups    
• Endive 3 cups    
• Mushrooms 1-1/2 cup, sliced
• Radishes 1-1/2 cups
• Spinach 2-1/2 cups
• Romaine 2-1/2 cups
• Watercress 6 cups
• Zucchini 1-1/4 cups

Each member has a choice; you may count these "Free Vegetables" or choose not to count them. Please remember that two serving of vegetables per day is a minimum. It is wiser to aim at five or six vegetable servings a day.

May God Bless Your Thanksgiving Season!

Kay Smith
First Place Associate Director


Kay is the associate national director of First Place and has been on the First Place staff since 1987.

Kay is a popular speaker at retreats, seminars, Conferences, FOCUS Weeks and Workshops across the country. Kay is the First Place food exchange expert and writes a monthly article in the First Place E-Newsletter on nutrition. She also was a contributing writer to the Today Is the First Day devotional book. Her delightful personality and love for people endears her to everyone she meets, and they quickly become her new best friend.

Kay and her husband, Joe, live in Roscoe, TX. They have two children and five grandchildren. Two of the young grandchildren are making a name for themselves on the golf circuit. Two of the young grandchildren are making a name for themselves on the golf circuit, and the three oldest grandsons are all involved in numerous sporting events, which Kay and Joe attend as often as possible.