Vegetables: gimme five.

Potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and iceberg lettuce. The four most popular vegetables in the U.S. often end up as french fries, potato chips, tomato sauce on pizza, and ketchup, lettuce, and onions on Big Macs and Whoppers.

Don't get us wrong: There's no such thing as a bad vegetable. Most are loaded with fiber, vitamins, and some minerals. All are low in salt. And all but avocados are fat-free (the avocado's fat is mostly monounsaturated, the least-harmful kind).

Even more important, researchers find that people who eat more vegetables are healthier. Which vegetables do what?

ROOTING FOR BENEFITS

So far, researchers only have clues. For example:

* People who eat more vegetables rich in beta-carotene have a lower risk of cancer, including colon, lung, and possibly bladder, esophagus, larynx, mouth, pancreas, and throat. That doesn't mean beta-carotene is the protector. Researchers now think that beta-carotene could simply be a marker for other phytochemicals that often accompany it.

* The soluble fiber--and possibly the flavonoids--in some vegetables may cut the risk of heart disease.

* Stroke is less common among vegetable-eaters, possibly because of the vegetables' potassium.

* People who eat spinach and other leafy green vegetables--which are rich in a carotenoid called lutein--have a lower risk of blindness due to macular degeneration, a deterioration of the retina.

Because no one's yet been able to prove cause-and-effect, experts keep it simple: Just eat more vegetables--three to five servings a day (plus two to four servings of fruit)--and you're bound to get whatever in them is good for you.

That's fine advice. But if you're the kind of person who wants to shoot for the most nutrient-packed, brimming-with-phytochemical vegetables you can find--and why not?--here's how.

HOW WE SCORED

We came up with a "score" for each vegetable by adding up its percent of the Daily Value for two vitamins, three minerals, carotenoids, and fiber. The fiber numbers are brand new, published last October by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Instead of including vitamin A in the score, we added up the major carotenoids: alpha-carotene, betacarotene, lutein, lycopene, and betacryptoxanthin. Some are converted into vitamin A by the body; some are not.

Certainly, it's too early to say which, if any, protect against cancer, blindness, or other illness. And if, say, lycopene and not the others turns out to be protective, a score that includes the other four may give a false reading of a vegetable's value.

Nevertheless, we chose the uncertainty and imprecision of a carotenoid measure because carotenoids are more likely than vitamin A to prevent diseases like cancer. (If nothing else, the vegetables that are rich in carotenoids are good sources of vitamin A.)

So, how'd they do?

* The Top Bananas (Scores: over 100). No matter how you rate vegetables, two groups always elbow their way to the top: the leafy greens, like spinach, kale, and swiss chard, and the deep orange-yellows, like sweet potatoes and carrots.

Most of these vegetables are sensational sources of vitamin C and carotenoids. (That's why those nutrients weigh heavily in the final score.) The greens are overflowing with them, in part because their leaves are so rich in the potentially eye-saving carotenoid lutein.

And some greens are decent sources of potassium, the B-vitamin folate, iron, or calcium. (The calcium in spinach is not well-absorbed, though.)

Carrots and sweet potatoes are not as well-endowed with quite as many different nutrients, but their hefty carotenoid levels--not to mention their taste--make them winners.

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts get spectacular scores because of their carotenoids, vitamin C, folate, and fiber. And that's without any credit for their phytochemicals like sulphoraphane or indoles, which may help prevent cancer. Green and (especially) red peppers are also top-notch vegetables, but note that a serving is half a pepper, not a sliver or two.

* The Middle of the Pack (Scores: 50 to 100). OK, so they're not the leaders. They're still impressive. A mere half-cup of asparagus, peas, or snow peas is a good (or close to good) source of carotenoids, vitamin C, folate, and fiber. Few other foods can boast such plenty...especially for only about 20 to 60 calories.

* The Also-Rans (Scores: less than 50). Mushrooms. Eggplant. Cucumber. Onions. Cabbage. They may be less nutritious than others. But then again...maybe, some day, researchers will discover that one or another of them harbors a life-saving phytochemical, perhaps the allium compounds in onions or the isothiocyanates in cabbage.

In the meantime, you can still enjoy the pleasures of marinated, grilled mushrooms, the aroma of sauteed onions, and the cool crunch of a freshly cut cucumber.

RELATED ARTICLE: Veggiemania

We came up with a score for each vegetable by adding up its percent of the Daily Value (DV) for five nutrients plus carotenoids and fiber. There is no DV for carotenoids, so we made up our own (5,000 micrograms).

For example, half a cup of cooked broccoli has 48 percent of our DV for carotenoids (48 points), plus 97 percent of the DV for vitamin C (97 points), 9 percent for fiber (9 points), 10 percent for folate (10 points), 7 percent for potassium (7 points), and 4 percent each for calcium and iron (8 points). That gives it a score of 179 points.

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The information for this article was compiled by Ingrid Van Tuinen.