14 SuperFoods for Healthy Living

Super Foods for Healthy Living


The secret to longevity lies in the supermarket.

Food supports life. Healthy food supports healthy living. Super Foods are at the top of the list of healthy foods and will not only support your healthy lifestyle, but may well extend it.

Fourteen super foods - beans, blueberries, broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin, salmon, soy, spinach, tea, tomatoes, turkey, walnuts and yogurt - are all rich in nutrients and relatively low in calories. These fourteen healthy, super foods are all credited with preventing, even reversing, heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and dementia. They feed all areas of your body.

Not only that, claim "Superfoods" authors Dr. Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews, but build your diet around them and you'll have more energy and look better, too. Of course we would expect that of Super Foods!

"Foods - the right foods - can actually change the course of your biochemistry," they write. "They can help to stop damage at the cellular levels that can develop into disease . . . "The delightful side effect is that you feel better, have more energy, look better, and can embrace all that life has to offer you with more optimism."

These healthy foods make delicious snacks and accompaniments to meals:

• BEANS
  Also try: green beans, sugar snap peas, green peas, chickpeas
  
  Beans and peas are a good source of low-fat protein, fiber, B vitamins,
  iron, folate, potassium, and magnesium
  
  Try to eat: at least four 1/2-cup
  servings per week
  
• BLUEBERRIES
  Also try: cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries,
  currants, purple grapes
  
  These foods are high in fiber, folate,
  vitamins C and E, potassium,
  magnesium, iron, riboflavin, niacin,
  phytoestrogen, few calories
  
  Try to eat: 1 to 2 cups daily .
  
• BROCCOLI
  Also try: Brussels sprouts, cabbage (red and green),
  cauliflower, bok choy, kale
  
  Another great source of folate, fiber,
  calcium, vitamins C and K, beta-carotene
  
  Try to eat: 1/2 to 1 cup daily
  
• OATS
  Also try: wheat germ, brown rice, barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye,
  millet, quinoa
  
  High in fiber, few calories, protein, magnesium,
  potassium, zinc, copper,
  selenium, thiamine
  
  Try to eat: Five to
  seven servings a day
  
• ORANGES
  Also try: lemons, grapefruit, kumquats, tangerines, limes
  
  High in the powerhouse vitamin C, fiber, folate, potassium, pectin
  
  Try to eat: one serving daily
  
  PUMPKIN
  Also try: carrots,
  butternut squash, sweet potatoes, orange bell peppers
  
  The orange color
  signifies alpha-carotene and beta-carotene; also high fiber, few calories,
  vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium
  
  Try to eat: 1/2 cup daily
  
• WILD SALMON
  Also try: Alaskan halibut, canned albacore tuna, sardine,
  herring, trout, sea bass, clams
  
  Oh my! That omega-3 fatty acids,
  vitamins B and D, selenium, potassium, protein
  
  Try to eat: two to four
  times a week
  
• SOY
  Also try: tofu, soymilk, soy nuts, edamame, miso
  
  More of
  that omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, potassium, folate, magnesium, selenium
  
  Try to eat: at least 15 grams a day
  
• SPINACH
  Also try: kale, collards, Swiss chard, bok choy, romaine
  lettuce, mustard and turnip greens
  Incredibly versatile this group of food
  can be cooked or enjoyed in a salad or sandwiches. Wake up our tastes buds, here
  comes the beta-carotene, omega-3
  fatty acids, vitamins C and E, thiamine,
  iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc
  
  Try to eat: one cup steamed or two cups
  raw daily
  
• TEA
  Also try: green tea
  
  Here's your flavonoids, fluoride, no
  calories
  
  Try to drink: one or more cups daily
  
• TOMATOES
  Also try: watermelon, persimmons, pink grapefruit
  
  These
  have lycopene, few calories, alpha- and beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium,
  chromium, fiber
  
  Try to eat: one serving per day
  
• TURKEY (skinless breast)
  Also try: skinless chicken breast
  
  A great source of low-fat protein, niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, iron, selenium, zinc
  
  Try to eat: three to four 3- or 4-ounce servings per week
  
• WALNUTS
  Also try: almonds, pistachios, sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin
  and sunflower
  seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews
  Nuts
  have healthy fat. Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins E and B6, magnesium, protein,
  fiber, potassium
  
  Try to eat: 1 ounce, five times a week
  
• YOGURT
  Also try: kefir
  
  Live active cultures, calcium, vitamins
  B2 and B12, potassium, magnesium, zinc
  
  Try to eat: two cups
  daily

It makes good sense to include these Super Foods in our diet on a regular basis. It's food we love, and it loves to keep us living healthy lives.

The Healthy Foodie Fanatic