Superfood And Its Benefits
11. Avocados: Their healthy fat keeps you satisfied and helps you absorb other nutrients. For a new u twist, brush a halved avocado (pit removed) with olive oil and grill 1 minute. Serve with red onion, sliced grapefruit and balsamic vinegar.
12. Spinach: A half-cup provides more than five times your daily dose of vitamin K, which helps blood clot and builds strong bones.
13. Canned pumpkin: It’s filled with natural cancer fighters alpha- and beta-carotene.
14. Cauliflower: White foods can be good for you! This one is packed with cancer-fighting glucosinolates.
15. Scallops: A 3-oz serving has 14 grams of protein but just 75 calories.
16. Collard greens: They’re exploding with nutrients like vitamin A, zeaxanthin and lutein, which keep your eyes healthy.
17. Olives: They deliver the same heart-healthy monounsaturated fat you get in olive oil, but for just 7 calories per jumbo olive!
18. Brown rice: It’s a top source of magnesium, a mineral your body uses for more than 300 chemical reactions (such as building bones and converting food to energy).
19. Oysters: These keep your immune system strong. A 3-oz serving (about 6 oysters) dishes up a quarter of your daily iron, plus nearly twice the zinc and all the selenium you need in a day.
20. Edamame: One cup has a whopping 22 grams of plant protein, as well as lots of fiber, folate and cholesterol-lowering phytosterols.
21. Strawberries: They’re loaded with ellagitannins, phytochemicals that may halt the growth of cervical and colon cancers.
22. Lentils: A great source of meat-free protein, a half-cup of cooked lentils also gives you nearly half your daily folate, a B vitamin that protects a woman’s unborn baby from neural tube defects.
23. Bran flakes: Their whole grains keep your heart in tip-top shape by reducing inflammation and melting away belly fat.
24. Kiwi Italian: researchers found that it reduces asthma-related wheezing, thanks to its high vitamin C content (one kiwi has 110% of your daily requirement).
25. Black beans: They’re loaded with protein, fiber, and flavonoids—antioxidants that help your arteries stay relaxed and pliable.
26. Sunflower seeds: A quarter-cup delivers half your day’s vitamin E, which keeps your heart healthy and fights infection.
27. Sardines: 3 oz provide more than 100% of your daily vitamin D. Sardines are also a top source of omega-3 fats. Try adding mashed canned sardines to marinara sauce and serving over whole-wheat pasta.
28. Asparagus: A half-cup supplies 50% of your daily bone-building vitamin K and a third of your day’s folate, it’s a natural diuretic so it banishes bloating, too.
29. Bananas: They’re loaded with several kinds of good-for-you fiber, including resistant starch (which helps you slim down).
30. Broccoli sprouts: They have 10 times more of the cancer-preventing compound glucoraphanin than regular broccoli.
