With delicious recipes to cook: Asparagus is so healthy

Asparagus is the ideal vegetable for a detoxifying spring treatment. In addition to vitamins A, B1, B2, C, E and folic acid, it contains plenty of potassium, phosphorus, calcium and asparagine. Potassium, but especially asparagine, stimulates kidney activity. As a result, asparagus has a dehydrating effect and is particularly helpful for people who suffer from pathological water retention in the tissue or who are overweight.

In general, increased urine excretion flushes out toxins and waste products from the body, cleanses the blood and supports the function of the liver, kidneys and lungs. Since asparagus consists of around 93 percent water, it has few calories. There are just 50 calories in a 250 gram portion. However, if you want to use asparagus as a slimming agent, you should hold off on melted butter and the popular hollandaise sauce.

Whether asparagine is also responsible for the strange smell of urine after eating asparagus cannot be answered clearly. What is clear so far is that there are various sulfur-containing substances that cause the smell. However, it is not clear which ingredients are broken down into these substances during digestion.

Be careful when eating asparagus if you suffer from kidney stones or have elevated uric acid levels in your blood. Asparagus could increase the symptoms of the disease here. It’s best to talk to your doctor first about whether and, if so, how much asparagus you can eat.

To enjoy the full flavor of asparagus, it needs to be as fresh as possible. The best guarantee for fresh asparagus is to buy it directly from the producer or at the weekly market. But you can also buy good asparagus in the supermarket if you pay attention to the following:

• The rods must look taut and plump and not bend.
• The cut surface at the ends of the asparagus should be smooth and light.
• If you press your fingernail into the cut surface, juice should come out (you can also ask the saleswoman to use a pole to cut the cut surface).
• Fresh asparagus smells pleasant.
• If you gently rub the asparagus spears together, they should crunch.

You should safely leave asparagus whose ends are hollow, brownish or dried out, no matter how cheap it is.

• However, you can get a bargain if you buy asparagus whose heads are already a little open or spears that are not completely straight. These criteria do not play any role in terms of taste. They simply result in the asparagus being offered in a lower commercial class, i.e. cheaper.
• Even so-called rust, a natural fungal attack, does not affect the taste.

If you have bought asparagus and are not preparing it straight away, you should wrap it in a damp tea towel and place it in the vegetable drawer of your fridge. Fresh asparagus can be stored this way for up to three days. Even poles that have already been peeled can be kept fresh for a few hours in this way, e.g. B. if you are expecting guests and want to prepare the food. Green asparagus is best stored upright in a little water.

White asparagus must be completely peeled before preparation. You can use a special asparagus peeler or simply a sharp kitchen knife. The latter, however, requires a bit more practice. Start below the heads and peel downwards. In the last third, you can peel the asparagus spears a little thicker. Cut off any woody or unsightly ends. Do not throw away bowls and end pieces. This can be used to make a soup or a stock in which to cook the sticks.

Green asparagus hardly needs to be peeled. You should only remove the peel from the ends.

Sometimes asparagus can taste bitter. This happens if the stalks are pierced too close to the rootstock. Unfortunately, nothing can neutralize the unpleasant taste. All you can do is cut off the bitter ends.

By the way: The Germans are world asparagus champions and consume an average of 1.7 kilograms per capita per year.