What’s so super about superfoods? Well, they’re powerful enough to fight our most fearsome foes: heart disease, cancer, and the effects of aging. And, with a little help from these recipes, they taste super too.
Take our Spinach Salad with Strawberries & Walnuts for instance. It’s populated with three superfoods (spinach, strawberries and walnuts) and tastes as fresh as the spring season. It makes for a light-and-healthy lunch or side salad to enjoy at dinner.
Incorporating superfoods into your diet will also help you maintain a healthy weight, and they can help you look and feel better.
And you don’t need a prescription. Superfoods are plentiful right inside your favorite…(wait for it)...super-market.
What makes a superfood super? Well, three things that superfoods have in abundance: nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber. Most superfoods contain many of the nutrients that are often missing in our diets. Things like vitamins A and C, magnesium and potassium.
The more colorful, darker fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries and spinach, are rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants can lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, by warding off cell-damaging “free radicals” that form as we age.
The fiber found in most superfoods gives aid and comfort to our digestive system and helps us to absorb more nutrients.
Here’s a partial rundown of some of those foods we can classify as “super.”
Açai fruit – becoming known as a super-duper food. One of the most powerful, most nutritious of all foods
Blueberries – especially rich in antioxidants
Beans – high in fiber
Oats – helps lower cholesterol (especially “bad” LDL cholesterol). Read more about the healthful benefits of oats.
Nuts – rich in Omega-3 fats, walnuts, almonds, and pistachio nuts are smart for your heart
Spinach – An excellent source of vitamin A and a top source of lutein, promoting good eye health
Strawberries – Another fruit that’s high in antioxidants
Yogurt – contains healthful bacteria that helps aid the immune system
Salmon – rich in Omega-3 fatty acids
For more information on superfoods, click here.
For a superfoods recipe featuring oats and blueberries, click here.