Superfoods: You Are What You Eat
By Christina Morgan, for Revive Your Life
Green tea - a powerful superfood
Most health-conscious individuals know that their family medical histories (i.e. genetics) are a major determinant of their overall risk of developing serious health issues. But, of the risk factors we have control over, which is the most important? Exercise? Sleep quality?
Researchers feel they may have found the answer - our diets. More specifically, they believe that the nutrient density of the foods we choose to eat have a major impact on our health and overall quality of life.
Unfortunately, many people in the U.S. still suffer from high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, and digestive problems because of their diets. Many have turned to prescription drugs in an attempt to combat these illnesses while others believe that nutrient-rich foods play an important role in disease recovery and provide the path to optimal health and wellbeing. These individuals are big advocates of Superfoods, which they incorporate into their diets as a means of improving their livelihood.
What exactly are Superfoods? Superfood is a term that was created to describe those foods that provide the maximum benefit in their raw (unprocessed) state and have a concentration of nutrients to help the body perform better and stay healthy. These foods, which can be found in your typical supermarket, are believed to have potent effects on our health due to their high phytonutrient content. Often, they contain high amounts of antioxidants, essential fatty acids, fiber, vitamin C, and probiotics.
There are a number of Superfoods, but below is a list of some of the most common:
- Acai Fruit - Described as one of the most perfect foods in the world, acai is ultra-high in antioxidants (10 times that of grapes) and is a substantial source of healthy fats, protein, and fiber
- Barley - A great source of fiber and selenium, barley is known for its ability to help maintain a healthy digestive tract and lower cholesterol levels
- Beans -A low glycemic index food that provides fiber, protein, and significant amounts of folic acid
- Blueberries - Anthocyanins, the antioxidants contained in blueberries, help protect us from cell damage and cancers in addition to boosting the nutrient power of vitamin C
- Broccoli - A plant that is viewed as one of the most important foods in the fight against cancer as a result of the presence of a phytochemical, sulforophane
- Honey (unrefined) - This superfood provides antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and phytonutrients
- Nuts and Seeds - These convenient snacks are a great source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and magnesium
- Oranges - High in vitamin C and rich in phytonutrients and flavonoids, oranges help reduce inflammation and ward off diabetes
- Pumpkin - Powerful antioxidants known as carotenoids give pumpkin its superfood status. These compounds have the ability to ward off heart disease and cancer as well as certain eye-related diseases
- Spinach - While considered a “magic bullet” for cataracts, this nutrient-dense leafy green is packed with phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals
- Tea (Green and Black) - The antioxidant power of tea puts it into the class of a must-have superfood
- Turkey - Known as an ultra-lean protein source, turkey also contains tryptophan, the immediate precursor to the formation of serotonin - the “feel-good” chemical of the brain
- Yogurt - A good source of protein and calcium, yogurt is easier to digest than milk because of the culturing process and contains gut-friendly bacteria.
By incorporating a number of these foods into your diet each week, overall health will improve, life span should increase, and those struggling with yo-yo diets will soon find weight stabilization. As with any diet plan, it’s always best to consult your physician or nutritionist to help find what works best for you.
Below are two recipes that include certain Superfoods from the list above. Try them out and you’ll find that Superfoods are not only nutritious, but delicious as well.
Baked Barley with Cranberries and Walnuts
Ingredients:
1 cup of hulled barley
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of crushed walnuts
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of boiling water
4 tablespoons of olive oil (optional)
Before getting started, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a 1 1/2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish (with a lid), mix the barley, butter, salt and boiling water. Stir together thoroughly, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Place the dish lid on top of the aluminum foil and bake for one hour in the center of the oven.
After baking the dish, remove the lid and foil, and stir again. Add in the dried cranberries and walnuts and stir together.
Optional: If the dish seems too dry, add 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups of canned or packaged vegetable stock
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) of diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (15 ounces) of black beans, drained
2 cans (15 ounces) of pumpkin puree
1 cup of milk or cream
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Add olive oil to a soup pot and heat at a medium temperature. Add the chopped onion and sauté for five minutes after the oil heats up. Add in the pumpkin puree, black beans, tomatoes and vegetable stock. Stir ingredients together and bring the soup to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and stir in the cream. Add the salt, cumin and curry to taste, depending on your taste buds. Simmer for five minutes and serve immediately.
Click on to submit this post to your favorite social bookmarking sites such as Digg or StumbleUpon!
Subscribe to receive free updates via the Revive Your Life RSS feed!
Related Posts:
Comments
5 Responses to “Superfoods: You Are What You Eat”
Share your thoughts with the RYL community!
You can also subscribe to the RYL RSS feed!
Loading ...
[...] Inman presents Superfoods: You Are What You Eat posted at Revive Your LifeMost health-conscious individuals know that their family medical [...]
Hi and thanks for submitting this informative post to my blog carnival and for approving the trackback! I am running one every week so feel free to submit any of your post.
this post is somewhat related to other posts in this article like that of about the mood and the one pertaining to anti-oxidants…
i love squash or pumpkin for its has that anti-oxidant that can really flash toxins on our body. this article just made me realized that there are still lots of nutritious foods readly available in our kitchen that can provide me fibers and anti-oxidants that is good for digestion…
i have gastritis that is why i am very particular on my daily food intake… thanks for thsi post… really helps a lot to me!
All is about balance, bro…if we eat something high cholesterol, we need to balance it by eating superfood. But in fact, many people do a unhealthy-lifestyle, and not aware about the importance of healthy life.
Thanks for the list of superfood, i find some of superfood is not expensive food, so why not buy it? It’s all for our healthy.
I’m drink tea everyday and sometime drinking honey, i hope it will make balance inside my body, that’s because i’m also eat someting just like steak and fried chicken. I can’t hold it, i wanna eat it. And because i cant stop it, what can i do now to decrease the risk is by consume a superfood.
i am surprised that honey has antioxidants taht is good for our colon. i drink a teasepoon of it every morning but just to sweeten my day and to increase my appetite, but this post made me realized that it has the benefit of good digestion.
i also eat pumpkin or squash. nice to know its nutrients content here on this post.
i hope that ryl will post more about nutritive contents of other foods..i can’t wait to read that!