Vitamins and Minerals Found Inside Fennel

Fennel is loaded with nutrients our bodies seek! It can be both nutritious and delicious when juiced with other ingredients. Here are a few of the questions we attempt to answer about Fennel.

• What vitamins in Fennel make Fennel so good for us?
• What is the best method for juicing Fennel?
• What are some great buying tips for Fennel?

Plus, we'll do our best to provide some general information about Fennel that you might not find so easily elsewhere on the Internet.

Let's begin our exploration of Fennel...

Vitamins and Minerals in Fennel

Fennel is probably best known for being loaded with provitamin A and vitamins B and C, but fennel also is a great source of calcium, sulfur and iron.

Vitamins in Fennel

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B6 (trace amount)
• Niacin (trace amount)
• Riboflavin (trace amount)
• Thiamin (trace amount)
• Vitamin C

Minerals in Fennel

• Calcium
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Sodium
• Trace amounts of Copper, Manganese, Selenium and Zinc.

The next time you think about Fennel... think about how it might add a powerful boost and highly uniquely delicious licorice flavor to your daily nutrition through juicing.

Tips for Juicing Fennel

Juicing Fennel can add both flavor and valuable nutrients to most any home-juiced cocktail... or it can result in a not-so-palatable drink that is difficult, if not impossible to swallow.

Here are a few tips for juicing Fennel that may help turn your juicing experience into something you look forward to and thoroughly enjoy.

Fennel belongs to the same family as celery and shares many of celery's health-giving properties. When mixed with carrot juice, it is helpful for combating night blindness and other eye disorders. When beet juice is added to the carrot-fennel mix, it becomes a viable blood strengthener and beneficial to menstruating women.

Some combine fennel with apples when juicing for indigestion and upset stomach. Yet others juice it for relieving the symptoms of migraines. 

Purchasing Tips for Buying Fennel

Always buy fennel with the leaves attached and healthy-looking.

The bulb should be solid, crisp, and white with no visible yellowing.

Like celery, fennel should be refrigerated and used within a week or so of purchasing. 

General Information About Fennel

This article wouldn't be complete if we didn't include a little general information about Fennel.

To avoid confusion: there are three main types of plant called "fennel" (which they all are): "Florence fennel", or finocchio, a type with a greatly enlarged bulb meant for use as a vegetable; common fennel, a wild plant of little culinary use (sometimes called "bitter fennel"); and "sweet fennel" -- a plant grown mainly for its seeds used as a spice, but also, like all its Umbellifrae kin, edible from top to bottom.

While (herbal) fennel is native to southern Europe, commercial (herbal) fennel usually comes from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Egypt, or China.

Fresh basil and fennel are often "secret" ingredients added to pasta sauces that lend a sweet and distinct flavor.

Fennel is also one of the oldest diet remedies. Filling, yet low in calories, fennel is an ideal snack food for people trying to lose weight. Ancient Greek and Roman healers prescribed the seeds to prevent obesity; more modern herbalists advocate fennel tea as a diet aid.

Aromatic fennel seeds are one of our oldest spices; they also are used to make a refreshing tea that is said to alleviate bloating, flatulence, and other intestinal problems.

The sweet, licorice-like flavor of fennel is similar to that of anise; in fact, although it is unrelated to this herb, fennel is sometimes called anise.

The licorice flavor in fennel goes especially well with fish; try baking or grilling it on a bed of fennel stalks.

All parts of the fennel plant are edible, and it can be prepared and served in many ways; raw in salads or braised, steamed, baked, juiced, or sauteed as a side dish.

Physicians through the ages have prescribed fennel for a variety of ailments. Hippocrates recommended fennel tea to stimulate milk production in nursing mothers.

In India, Ayurvedic physicians have long recommended fennel seeds to aid digestion and prevent bad breath.

Nicholas Culpeper the 17th-century British herbalist used fennel to treat kidney stones, gout, liver and lung disorders, and as an antidote to poisonous mushrooms.

Be sure to check out both our "Juicing" and our "Smoothies" sections for delicious recipes and more using Fennel!