10 Superfoods

Is your health food diet ultra bland, consisting of salads, baked chicken and broccoli? Are you looking for a way to add some excitement to your meals, while maximizing their nutritional punch?  If so, then try to incorporate as many of the 10 nutritious "superfoods" listed below into your diet, on a regular basis.  There is no reason to be bored when eating healthy.

1. Fermented Vegetables - Fermented, or cultured, vegetables are chock full of essential enzymes and beneficial bacteria needed for optimal digestion.  They are easier to digest than raw or cooked vegetables.

2. Kale - Kale contains fiber and antioxidants.  Kale is one of the best sources of vitamin A, which promotes eye and skin health and may help strengthen your immune system. A one-cup serving has almost as much vitamin C as an orange and as much calcium as a cup of milk. Kale is an excellent source of multiple vitamins and nutrients.

3. Kefir and Other Fermented Beverages - Kefir is a fermented milk beverage that contains beneficial probiotics that may help give your immune system a boost.  One of the best and least expensive ways to get healthy bacteria through your diet is actually to make kefir yourself. All you need is one-half packet of kefir starter granules in a quart of organic milk, which you leave at room temperature overnight. By the time you wake up in the morning, you will likely have kefir. If it hasn't obtained the consistency of yogurt, you might want to set it out a bit longer and then store it in the fridge.

A quart of kefir has far more active bacteria than you can possibly purchase in any probiotic supplement and it is very economical.  You can reuse the kefir from the original quart of milk about 10 times before you need to start a new culture pack. Just one starter package of kefir granules can convert 50 gallons of milk to kefir.

Kombucha, a fermented drink, is another great addition to your diet. The key is variety. The greater the variety of fermented and cultured foods you include in your diet, the better. 

4. Wild Alaskan Salmon - Research1suggests that eating oily fish, such as wild Alaskan salmon, once or twice a week may increase your lifespan.

Unfortunately, salmon are often mislabeled.  Studies have shown that as much as 80% of the fish marked "wild" are actually farmed.   The flesh of wild sockeye salmon is bright red, courtesy of its natural astaxanthin content. It’s also very lean, so the fat marks, those white stripes you see in the meat, are very thin. If the fish is pale pink with wide fat marks, the salmon is farmed. Avoid Atlantic salmon, because all salmon labeled "Atlantic Salmon" currently comes from fish farms.

5. Whey Protein Concentrate - Whey protein is a by-product of cheese production.  Whey was promoted for its health benefits as early as 420 B.C. As you age, your body gradually loses its ability to produce critical amino acids.   

Whey protein concentrate (not to be confused with the far inferior whey protein isolate) is an ideal choice.  It is a rich source of highly bioavailable amino acids.   Whey protein should be from organic milk that is cold processed, in order to preserve the amino acid cysteine.

6. Organic Free-Range Eggs - Eggs are an excellent source of high-quality nutrients that many people are deficient in, especially high-quality protein and fat.   A single egg contains nine essential amino acids, is one of the highest quality proteins you can find, contains lutein and zeaxanthin (for your eyes), has choline for your brain, nervous- and cardiovascular systems and  has naturally occurring B12.

Raw eggs have the highest bioavailability of these nutrients.  Instead of eating eggs raw, which may contain salmonella, soft-boiled would be your best option. Scrambling your eggs is one of the worst ways to eat eggs as it actually oxidizes the cholesterol in the egg yolk.

7. Organic Coconut Oil - Often shunned for its high saturated fat content, the naturally occurring saturated fat found in coconut oil has some spectacular health benefits such as promoting heart health, weight loss, immune system health, thyroid function and more. Half of the fat content in coconut oil is lauric acid, which is a fat rarely found in nature.  Lauuric acid could easily qualify as a "miracle" nutrient, because of its unique health promoting properties. Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties. 

Coconut oil is also the ideal choice for all types of cooking. Coconut oil is the only oil stable enough to resist mild heat-induced damage. Whenever you need an oil to cook or bake with, use coconut oil instead of butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, margarine, or any other type of oil called for in recipes.  

8. Avocado - Also shunned by many due to their fat content, avocados are actually incredibly healthy for this very reason. Healthy raw fat is a nutrient many are severely deficient in. Avocados also provide close to 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including; fiber, potassium, Vitamin E,  B-vitamins and Folic acid.

9. Organic Butter from Grass Fed Cows - Another type of healthy fat is butter made from organic grass-fed milk.

10. Pomegranate - The primary source of this fruit's benefits is its antioxidant content, particularly ellagitannin compounds, such as punicalagins and punicalins, which account for about half of the pomegranate's antioxidant ability. The juice and pulp of pomegranates have previously been studied for their potential heart- and joint health benefits.

Try to incorporate as many of these foods into your diet on a daily or weekly basis as you can and you will reap the benefits. 

For More Information:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/31/top-10-healthiest-foods.aspx