Vegetables

If any food group earns the word "superfood", it's vegetables — not because any single one is magic, but because as a group they deliver an enormous amount of nutrition for very few calories. Leafy greens like spinach and kale bring vitamin K, folate and magnesium; peppers and broccoli are loaded with vitamin C; orange vegetables such as carrots and sweet potato are rich in the vitamin-A precursor beta-carotene.

Vegetables are also where most of the fibre in a healthy diet comes from, which feeds gut bacteria and helps you feel full. Cooking changes things in both directions: heat makes some nutrients (like the lycopene in tomatoes) more available, while boiling can leach water-soluble vitamins into the cooking water. Steaming, roasting and quick stir-frying tend to preserve the most.

Every vegetable here is listed per 100 g. Browse the full set, or use the rankings to find the highest-protein or highest-potassium vegetables.