How to prepare and enjoy the health benefits of artichokes

Served either hot or cold, the globe artichoke is both a delicacy and a low-calorie, nutritious vegetable. Actually, a globe artichoke is the flower bud of a large, thistle like plant, with only a few edible portions — the heart and the tender, fleshy part at the base of the tough outer leaves. Both the heart and the meaty leaves of the artichoke are edible, though it's the leaves that contain many of the vegetable's phytochemicals. Here are some tips on preparing avocado and the benefits of including it in your diet.

Using a light sauce.

• To prepare a fresh artichoke, the thorny top and leaf tips are trimmed away, and the vegetable is boiled, steamed or baked.
• It can be served in many ways, but one of the most popular is to dip the edible portion of the leaves in a sauce.
• It's this sauce that dictates whether an artichoke is a healthful treat or a high-calorie indulgence.
• High-fat sauces like Hol­lan­daise and melted butter are traditional favorites, but a much more healthful choice is lem­on juice with a dash of olive oil.

• Artichokes offer good source of folate, vitamin C and potassium.
• Artichokes are low in calories, high in fibre.
• One artichoke provides 28 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of folate, 16 percent of vitamin C, 300 milligrams of potassium, and about three grams of fibre.
• Artichokes contain cynarin, an organic acid that stimulates the sweetness receptors in the taste buds of some people, causing the foods eaten afterward to taste sweeter.
• This chemical is thought to improve liver function and possibly lower blood cholesterol, but these claims are unproved.
• Also lacking proof are claims that artichokes lower blood sugar and stimulate bile flow.

Artichokes are members of the sunflower, or composite, plant family.

• People allergic to ragweed pollen may react to artichokes because of cross-reacting antigens that respond to both allergens.