Colourful vegetables colourful micrographs

摘要

Introduction Humans are omnivorous, which means that they eat food of plant as well as animal origin, while only a minority (vegetarians and vegans) prefer to eat plants mostly or exclusively, respectively. High meat consumption has not been to people's benefit, as current research is showing. On the contrary, there is growing evidence (Campbell & Campbell, 2006) that diets rich in vegetables and fruits are associated with a lower risk of so-called diseases of the Western civilisation [Internet I] such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and various kinds of malignancies. The American Institute of Cancer Research estimates that a simple change in human diet such as increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables to 5 servings per day would decrease the incidence of cancer by 20% (Keck & Finley, 2004). Plants contain all three major food components groups, i.e., proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates such as starch and inulin, and dietary fibre. Some of the edible plants are consumed as vegetables either as side dishes complementing other foods such as meat, fish, eggs, cheeses, or as cereals. A gradual departure from foods of animal origin increases the role of vegetables. In fact, "wild" plants [Internet 2] not considered edible some time ago such as dandelions, chickweed, nettle, ground ivy, green pea shoots, etc. are now included as vegetables in salads, soups, and stir-fried dishes.