Artichoke Vitamins

Artichoke vitamins

1 large globe artichoke (cooked)

8 cal (fresh harvested) to 44 cal (stored)

2.8 gm protein (incomplete)

9 gm carbohydrate

51 mg calcium

301 mg potassium

150 units A

0.07 mg B-1

0.04 mg B-2

0.7 mg niacin 8 mg C

If you never thought you’d munch on thistle flower buds, think again, because that’s what globe, or French, artichokes are. Young, very tender artichokes can be eaten raw, others must be cooked. Look for a compact bud with a firm stalk—when the leaves start to open, they’re moving out of the fresh stage. Their high calcium and potassium contents aid muscles, bones, nerves, and heart action. However, they should be avoided by diabetics because of their tendency to produce uric acid. Whole artichokes are very good for weight-reduction diets because they are low in calories, high in potassium (which aids against water retention), and take forever to eat—by the time you finish one, you feel like you’ve been through a five-course meal. (Dip the leaves in a vinaigrette dressing, rather than in melted butter, to avoid saturated fats.) Artichokes are one of the foods rumored in folklore to be sexually stimulating, so maybe you won’t even go on to the rest of the meal.