The Health Benefits of Parsley are Numerous

Parsley is far more than a pretty garnish to be discarded. Rather, the health benefits of parsley will surprise you! Parsley helps your body and your health (your breath, too) with some very valid nutritive claims.

After reading this, I hope that you will start eating that garnish, and more importantly start adding parsley to your smoothies, salads and meals.  It is a therapeutic herb; a food to be enjoyed often. Here are just a few of the benefits of this green herb.

Appetite Enhancer – Parsley is a natural appetite enhancer. This is good if you have a small appetite and realize that you need to eat more.

Cancer – Parsley may be a cancer fighter. Tie a pink ribbon around the bunch of parsley. Parsley contains a chemical substance called “apigenin.” This substance seems to significantly slow down the spread of cancer cells in laboratory rats.

Parsley Nutrition – Want some green protein? Munch on a bunch of parsley. Parsley is a major source of protein and this herb contains vitamin A and as much vitamin C as is found in oranges. Parsley leaves have twice as much iron as spinach and is also good source of the minerals calcium, copper, iron, manganese and potassium. The health benefits of parsley also include it being a good source of beta carotene.

Oral Care – Chewing a piece of parsley naturally freshens your breath.

Eye Health – Parsley helps stimulate the tiny blood vessels that surround your eyes. Eating parsley may help you gain great eyesight. One of the reasons is that beta carotene is good for the eyes and parsley is rich in this compound.

Weight Loss – Parsley and other green leafy vegetables help in breaking down and burning off stored fat without adding any extra calories.

Parsley Juice

When you juice add some parsley. Saving and adding parsley stems is a great way to add nutrition to your juices and not waste any of the precious parts of the parsley plant. But don't stop with just the stems. Add the green leaves to your fresh juices, too to further enhance all of the nutritional benefits of juicing.

Parsley Tea

While tea may not be the first thought that comes to mind concerning a raw diet, it can be added. Parsley tea is a wonderful way to add the health benefits of parsley to your life. To make parsley tea or any other type of tea, bring pure water to a boil, remove from the heat, cool slightly and then add fresh parsley. Let the parsley nutrients seep into the tea anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. Strain and enjoy.

Freezing Parsley

If you are serious about your raw diet, freezing parsley is not something you'll want to do. This is because the most effective way of freezing parsley is by first blanching it. Blanching means dipping the parsley into boiling water for a few seconds. Then you dry the parsley and put it into freezer sage bags and store in your freezer. Blanching before freezing parsley helps it to retain the bright green color.

Perhaps a better alternative to freezing parsley is to grow it as a house plant and have your own mini-herb garden itself. Parsley is so good for you, plan on have a rather large herb/parsley pot!

Although I don't recommend freezing parsley, I have heard that its refrigerator “shelf life” is measured in weeks, not days. Now, personally, I have never measured it. Parsley is way too yummy for me to have it sit in my fridge just to see how longs it takes to rot. But with this in mind, you can buy several bunches of parsley and know that it will keep well in your refrigerator. So if you get a good deal on parsley, go ahead and stock up. If nothing else, you will be able to have several green smoothies featuring parsley!

Parsley Recipe

Looking for a parsley recipe?  Why?  Just eating these dark green leaves will help you enjoy the health benefits of parsley.

Here is another parsley recipe idea: Whenever you use lettuce, replace some of the lettuce with parsley.

Add parsley leaves (lots of them) to just about any of your raw food recipes. Fresh parsley goes well with any tomato-based cold soups or any other other cold, raw soup.  At the bottom of the page is a link to a great gazpacho soup recipe that combines good taste, great nutrition and the health benefits of parsley.

Finished with Health Benefits of Parsley?

Here are Some Other Superfoods You May Enjoy:

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