18 Foods That Help You to "Live Long & Prosper"

When you hear “Live Long and Prosper” and you are a “Trekie”, you think of Spock. That was one of Spock’s favorite expressions, but The Star Trek character never really explained how to do that.

These 18 foods will help you to “Live Long and Prosper” . Of course, there are many other factors that impact longevity, such as exercise, exposure to toxins, sleep factors and your ability to handle stress. But we are what we eat and if you don’t get the best raw materials for life, into your body, you chances to “Live Long and Prosper” are greatly diminished.

One of your most basic health principles is to eat real food. This will radically reduce your exposure to the tens of thousands of chemicals added to processed foods, most of which are not even on the label.

www.Health.com recently published a list of 18 foods packed with health-promoting compounds like antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals known to play a role in longevity.

Four Beverages That Promote Longevity:

Drink plenty of pure water. Stop drinking sodas and juices and replace them with pure water . Staying well-hydrated can also counteract many common ills. This will also minimize wrinkles and reduce your risk for blood clots. Severe dehydration has even been shown to reduce your cognitive function and performance to a similar degree as alcohol, making you more prone to car accidents and other mishaps.

Certain types of tea and coffee can also have health-promoting benefits. Green tea, for example, has been shown to lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, when consumed at least three times a week.

Coffee, while it could do more harm than good if consumed in excess or with added sugar, artificial sweeteners, milk, or creamers, also has an impressive list of redeeming qualities, including longevity.

Make sure your coffee is organic, as conventional coffee tends to be heavily sprayed with pesticides. Ideally use whole-bean black coffee. The darker the roast, the better. Roasted coffees are higher in neuroprotective agents than green (unroasted) coffees.

Another beverage that can do harm or good depending on the quantity and quality is red wine, which has been linked to health benefits such as reduced blood pressure, cancer prevention and anti-aging.

Resveratrol is the primary ingredient in red wine that gives it its health promoting qualities, but all alcoholic beverages also have a neurotoxic influence.

Whole foods, such as muscadine grapes, for example, are a better choice for resveratrol. Muscadine grapes have the highest concentration of resveratrol in nature because of their extra thick skins and numerous seeds where it is concentrated.

Nuts, Berries & Clear Conscience Snacks:

One large-scale, 30-year long study found that people who regularly ate one ounce of nuts at least seven times per week were 20% less likely to die for any reason, compared to those who avoided nuts in their diet.
Eating nuts at least five times a week corresponded to a 29% reduction in mortality risk due to heart disease; a 24% reduction for respiratory disease; and an 11% reduction for cancer.

Raw nuts are an excellent source of healthy fats, which you need more of once you start cutting non-vegetable carbs out of your diet. They also contain plenty of valuable vitamins and minerals and make for an overall great snack when energy levels are low.

All nuts are not necessarily created equal though. Macadamia and pecans provide the highest amount of healthy fat, while being on the lower end in terms of carbs and protein.

Berries of all kinds contain concentrated amounts of disease-fighting phytochemicals known to boost your immunity, prevent cancer and protect your heart.

They’re also lower in sugar than many fruits so they’re less likely to destabilize your insulin levels, making them another great contender for a quick guiltless snack.

Dark Chocolate:

When eating chocolate, try to stick to dark chocolate, which is the healthiest variety. Gut bacteria will break down and ferment the dark chocolate, turning the components into anti-inflammatory compounds that benefit your health.

In fact, research has linked dark chocolate consumption to over 40 distinct health benefits, including longevity. The closer your cocoa is to its natural raw state, the higher its nutritional value; ideally, your chocolate or cocoa should be consumed raw (cacao).

Foods Containing Healthy Fats:

Besides nuts, three other foods that rate among the highest in terms of healthy fats include salmon, avocado and coconut oil.

1. Research suggests that eating oily fish once or twice a week may increase your lifespan by more than two years and reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 35%!

If you want to maximize health benefits from fish, avoid farmed fish, particularly farmed salmon and even more specifically, genetically engineered farmed salmon .

Look for wild caught Alaskan salmon and sockeye salmon. Alaskan sockeye is not allowed to be farmed.

2. Avocados are actually classified as a fruit. They are rich in monounsaturated fat that is easily burned for energy. They also provide close to 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including potassium, vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid.

Clinical research has revealed a number of health effects of avocado consumption, linking it to reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as appetite suppression and improved weight management. It also enhances your body’s absorption of other fat soluble nutrients.

Researchers have that an avocado a day, can help to optimize cholesterol levels within as little as one week.

3. Coconut oil: Half of the fat content in coconut oil is lauric acid that your body converts into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties. The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil also produce a whole host of health benefits, including stimulating your metabolism.

It can be added to smoothies, or used in virtually any dish calling for butter or oil. When it comes to cooking, coconut oil is ideal as it can tolerate high heat without oxidizing.

Vegetables:

Vegetables contain an vast variety of antioxidants and other disease-fighting compounds. Some plant chemicals can reduce inflammation and eliminate carcinogens, while others regulate the rate at which cells reproduce, get rid of old cells and maintain DNA. Leafy greens are basic staples with not-so-basic health benefits.

There is a gene called T-bet, which is essential for producing critical immune cells in your gut. T-bet responds specifically to leafy green vegetables. Those immune cells are thought to play an important role in controlling inflammatory diseases, and may even prevent the bowel cancer.

According to the featured article,9 eating one cup of cooked greens per day cut middle-aged people’s risk of dying in the next four years in half, compared to those who didn’t eat any leafy greens.

Some other important vegetables include:

1. Broccoli contains dozens, maybe even hundreds, of super-nutrients that support optimal health, including immune-boosting and anti-cancer compounds.

2. Sprouts may offer some of the highest levels of nutrition available, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes that help protect against free radical damage. Many of the benefits of sprouts relate to the fact that plants contain more concentrated amounts of nutrients in their initial phase of growth.

3. Fermented vegetables: Almost everyone has damaged gut flora these days, unless you’re part of the minority that eats a strict organic whole foods diet and avoids antibiotics. Fermented vegetables can provide you with a robust dose of beneficial bacteria, which are critically important for optimal physical and mental health.

4. Tomatoes are one of the best dietary sources of lycopene, which has been shown to have anti-cancerous activity and may reduce your risk of stroke.

5. Cabbage is actually among the most potent medicinal foods available. Eating cabbage at least two or three times a week, may offer many significant health benefits.

Two Disease-Fighting Seeds and Herbs:

1. According to a 14-year long Harvard study, eating a bowl of quinoa a day, may lower your risk of premature death from diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes by 17%. While it’s often used as a grain replacement, quinoa is technically a seed, related to chard and spinach.

It’s high in healthy fats and antioxidants. It is also a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids. Be sure to soak it for a few minutes, or ideally overnight, before you cook it.

2. Garlic is well-known for its healing powers, and studies have demonstrated more than 150 beneficial health effects of garlic, including a reduced risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and various cancers..

Controlling Inflammation Is Key for Longevity:

Inflammation is the common thread linking a wide variety of health problems. You will find chronic inflammation in obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

The key to reducing chronic inflammation in your body starts with your gut health and your diet,.

The vast majority of the foods listed above tend to have anti-inflammatory activity. Processed foods, on the other hand, produce chronic inflammation.

I think that Spock would agree that is only logical that if we consume chemicals that are not found in nature, we have no genetic programming to deal with these chemicals. It is like an PC trying to read Apple software. It just doesn’t compute! The result is cellular damage, inflammation and disease.

Replacing processed foods with real foods can make a significant difference in your overall health and ultimately help you to “Live Long & Prosper”.

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