The first greenhouse vegetables that are tempting with freshness do not have a good reputation. We checked whether it was deserved. Well, they should not be avoided, but it is worth knowing what to choose and how to handle them so that they serve your he alth.
When talking about early vegetables, there is often mention of nitrates in fertilizers and sprays that protect plants against diseases. Nitrates contained in fertilizers are completely absorbed, because young plants absorb everything from the substrate. When there are too many of these compounds, plants begin to accumulate them. Under certain conditions, nitrates turn into nitrites, and these turn into harmful nitrosamines. In improperly grown spring vegetables, mercury, cadmium or lead can also be found. Hence the repeated warnings of dietitians not to overdo it with their amount.
It is true that spring vegetables soak up substances in food and soil like a sponge. But what their leaves and roots contain depends not only on the fertilizer used, but largely on the degree of soil contamination, so greenhouse vegetables can be even he althier than soil-grown vegetables. More and more early vegetables come from modern hydroponic, i.e. soilless cultivation, in which plant roots are immersed in water. Due to the specificity of such cultivation, it is not necessary to use agents that protect plants against pests and pathogenic organisms living in the soil. Spraying - if used at all - is strictly regulated so that vegetables do not harm the he alth of consumers.
Although the taste of spring vegetables is not as intense as that of vegetables harvested in high season, they contain many valuable ingredients. Therefore, let's not renounce them - let's use wise tactics. It would be best to buy those from ecological crops that do not use artificial fertilizers, but only natural composts, individual compounds of which do not accumulate in the cultivated plants. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to them, and organic vegetables are more expensive than those from traditional production. However, even in this case, you can avoid making a wrong choice.
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