I’m big on simple things: simple foods that I can pronounce, find in the store, and use in regular old recipes. Simple fun with my family. Simply enjoying dinner. Most of the time I complicate things unnecessarily, but I do appreciate the simple. I appreciate having a simple list of foods that are able to help my body stay healthy in a variety of different ways. The Super Foods at Kitchen Stewardship fit the bill just right.
Super Foods For Disease Prevention
Scan the list below for the health issues you’re most interested in. The link for each food will take you to information about the health benefits and sometimes shares recipes and/or preparation and storage tips. Also, check out the Super Foods list, and make a concerted effort to include more of them in your weekly routine.
Remember that Super Foods are given that title because they belong to more than one category. When you choose these foods on your plate, you’re getting a two-for-one deal (or three- or four- or more-for-one deal) on the ways it will help you stay healthy.
This is a sad list of diseases I never want to deal with…so you can help reduce your risk by eating the following Super Foods:
May prevent Alzheimers
Reduces high cholesterol
Lowers LDL
Raises HDL
- yogurt
- honey
- Note: my husband struggles with low HDL and I KNOW there are more foods that are supposed to help raise HDL. What do you know?
Lowers high triglycerides
Reduces risk of heart disease
- beans
- eggs
- sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots
- oats
- wild salmon, walnuts and flax
- spinach
- tomatoes
- broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage
- garlic
- onions
- turkey
- oranges
Good for diabetics
- beans
- tomatoes
- oats
- garlic
- olive oil, peanut butter, avocado
- wild salmon, walnuts and flax
- turkey
- cinnamon, honey (somewhat debatable)
- spinach
Reduces risk of cancer (full of antioxidants)
- beans
- yogurt (colorectal)
- eggs (breast)
- tomatoes
- broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage
- garlic
- onions
hot peppers(recipe no longer available)- walnuts and almonds
- blueberries
- turkey
- all Super Fruits
- sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots
- spinach
- oranges
- wild salmon, walnuts and flax (colon, prostate and breast)
- olive oil, peanut butter, avocado
- honey, dark chocolate
Osteoporosis
Inflammatory bowel disease
Reduces high blood pressure
- yogurt
- eggs
- wild salmon, walnuts and flax
- garlic
- onions
- spinach
- oats
- dark chocolate (chocolate always lowers my stress!) 😉
Improves thyroid health
Eczema
Allergies
Asthma
hot peppers(recipe no longer available)- oats
- wild salmon and flax
Anti-inflammatory (generally good for arthritis sufferers)
- tomatoes
- olive oil, peanut butter, avocado
- sweet potato
- sunflower seeds
- garlic
- onions
- wild salmon, walnuts and flax
- cinnamon, dark chocolate
- spinach
Lowers risk for depression, ADHD
Helps with menstrual pain and menopause
Fights yeast
Protects against age-related memory loss
Of course, the disclaimer for all this is that I’m just a mom, not a doctor or even a nutritionist. The Internet told me this, and it can tell you, too. Make sure you don’t make any medical decisions based on the information here, just ask medical questions of your doctor.
Eat Super Foods for WHAT?
I’ve realized that rather than a list of vitamins and such in a given food, it would be even more helpful for folks who are seeking to prevent/heal/improve certain conditions to have a list of the super foods organized by how they will help. I know when my mother-in-law had a sudden double bypass, we all wanted as much nutrition information as we could…but only about heart health and diabetes.
First, here are some of the top nutrients you might be looking for in your dinner:
Protein
Fiber
Iron
Folic acid (remember ladies, important in pregnancy!)
Calcium
Some helpful Super Food functions for your health:
Eye health
- eggs
- broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage
- sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots
- wild salmon, walnuts and flax
- spinach
Improves digestion
Feel full longer (good for dieters)
Builds immune system
- yogurt
- broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage
- garlic
- oranges
- sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots
- flax
- cinnamon (fights colds)
- honey
Anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal
Em says
Some links from my delicious about HDL raising foods …
Berries!
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/2/323
Kale Juice (a fabulous addition to green smoothies if you’re into those …)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18548846
Cocoa
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/85/3/709
(1/4 C … perfect for a homemade hot chocolate … per day for 12 weeks led to an average 24% increase in study participants)
Cranberry Juice
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=927296&jid=&volumeId=&issueId=02&aid=927292&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0007114506002145
Eggs
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18575296?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Katie says
Em,
Thank you so much for sharing your links! Obviously it took a while for me to get around to checking on them, but better late than never. 🙂 Hubby has his appointment this week, actually, so hopefully the numbers will be good and we’ll just be doing maintenance…we’ll see!
Katie