An Underrated Vegetable Green That Could Prevent Cancer Is Also Packed With Magnesium, Calcium, And Vitamin C

Some people find it really difficult to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their everyday diets (and in case you were curious, here’s the minimum amount of fruits and veggies you should eat every day). While these plant-based foods are packed with nutrients, they also pose a challenge to picky taste buds.

Take turnip greens, for example. A cup of cooked turnip greens is surprisingly healthy, as it clocks in at less than 60 calories and contains 4.87 grams of protein, 5.05 grams of fiber, 39.1 milligrams of magnesium, 209 milligrams of calcium, and 29.7 milligrams of vitamin C. Unfortunately, they also come with a powerful note of bitterness, which can make it hard for some people to even finish a bite. 

With that said, how you prepare your turnip greens can make a difference in terms of how much of their nutritional potential you can maximize. Kathleen Benson, a registered dietitian-nutritionist at Top Nutrition Coaching, highlights the versatility of this underrated vegetable. “You can toss turnip greens into soups, or add them to a grain bowl with a tangy dressing to balance out the bitterness,” she advised.

If you’re thinking that making turnip greens easier to eat is too much of a hassle, you may want to reconsider: After all, aside from being nutrient-rich, turnip greens may also prevent cancer.

Turnip greens are members of the Brassicaceae (cabbage) family, which means they are considered cruciferous vegetables. That’s why the health benefits of consuming turnip greens are comparable to those offered by other leafy greens.

For starters, turnip greens have impressive cancer-fighting potential, which they owe largely to their glucosinolate content. These naturally occurring chemicals are capable of disrupting the processes by which cancers develop, highlighting the usefulness of glucosinolates for both prevention and treatment (via a 2023 review in Medical Oncology). According to a 2009 review published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, the consumption of these sulfur-containing, plant-based compounds has been observed to reduce a person’s risk of certain types of cancer.

Meanwhile, the abundance of calcium and magnesium in the vegetable contributes not only to bone health but also to the well-being of the muscular, circulatory, and nervous systems. In fact, consuming cruciferous vegetables may lower the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases regardless of gender, according to a 2011 paper published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

Lastly, the vitamin C in turnip greens can enhance your immune function, improving your disease resistance and enabling you to heal from physical injuries properly.

Excited to reap the benefits of this underrated nutritional powerhouse, but unsure how you can do so without having to power through its strong, bitter taste? Fret not, because Benson has some tasty suggestions.

Aside from using them as an ingredient for salads or soups, there are other ways you can prepare turnip greens for consumption while enhancing their taste. For starters, she recommends using an acidic base, such as vinegar or lemon juice, which can help “cut the bitterness.” Another way would be to chop some garlic and toss it into the pan as you saute your greens. You can even use olive oil (here are some of the unexpected health benefits of olive oil). Cooking turnip greens in fat doesn’t just make your dish yummier; the fat-soluble nutrients in them (e.g., vitamins A and K) become easier for your body to absorb as well. 

Lastly, while cooking your turnip greens may actually diminish their vitamin C content, there’s an easy way to make up for it: “Adding a squeeze of lemon at the end can brighten the flavor even more [and] can also help preserve some of the vitamin C in the dish,” said Benson.