Top 10 Foods You Should Start Eating Now-Part 1

If you want to take a step towards eating more consciously, add these 10 foods to your grocery list now. These incredible edibles pack a nutritious punch with vitamins and natural compounds that don't just taste good, they can help prevent disease.

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD will advice for these.

#1 Berries. Berries are brimming with nutrients and phytochemicals and have been named a “food that fights cancer” by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). They're also loaded with vitamin C, and fiber -- both substances have been consistently linked to lower cancer risk. But they also contain ellagic acid that laboratory studies have shown may help prevent cancers of the skin, bladder, lung, esophagus, and breast. And blueberries contain a family of phenolic compounds called anthocyanosides, which seem to be among the most potent antioxidants yet discovered.

#2 Garlic & Onions. Loaded with phytochemicals, onions and garlic are members of the allium family of plants (other members include scallions, leeks, and chives), which produces organosulfur phytochemicals, including allicin and diallyl disulfide (DADS). It’s probably not one component in garlic and onions that holds the wealth of health benefits, either, but a combination of substances. A recent review of garlic research by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City concluded that garlic does indeed have modest lipid-lowering effects when consumed for 6 months. Onions are one of the richest sources of quercetin on the planet. This potent antioxidant is suspected of helping protect against heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

#3 Oats. There’s a lot more to oats, nutritionally speaking, than fiber (4 grams per 1/2-cup). You also get some protein; smart fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat); and a host of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals to boot! Oats can block harmful effects of “bad” cholesterol. Oats contribute two important antioxidant phytochemicals to your diet: avenanthramides and phenolic acids. More needs to be known on this but researchers from Tufts University completed a clinical trial using an evenanthramide-rich oat extract and found that the oat phytochemicals worked synergistically with vitamin C to protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation. (Oxidized LDL becomes a lot more harmful and more likely to encourage plaguing in the arteries.) In many studies, eating oats have been shown to help reduce blood pressure too.

#4 Tomatoes. Tomatoes first grabbed headlines when researchers discovered that it’s loaded with lycopene (thought to have the highest antioxidant activity of all the carotenoids), which has synergy with vitamin E and other food components. But upon closer inspection, it’s a standout among fruits and vegetables because it actually contains all four major carotenoids (alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, and lycopene) and all three high-powered antioxidants (beta-carotene, vitamin E, and vitamin C), also thought to have synergy together.

#5 SoySoybeans are a unique member of the legume family: They contain a large amount of natural plant estrogens (Isoflavones), as well as all the essential amino acids and a number of antioxidant phytochemicals. Genistein, the main isoflavone in soy, has possible antitumor activity, but soy possesses other cancer-fighting components. Researchers suspect that these powerful anticancer components work at different stages of the cancer process. This means there is value in eating your soy in close to whole form so you are sure to get all of the aforementioned components versus just one in a soy supplement.

It’s also probably better to get your soy in food form to fully benefit from the cholesterol-lowering properties of its protein. Processing can also reduce the isoflavone content of some soy protein products by as much as 80%. According to soy expert Mark Messina, PhD, conceivably isoflavones and soy protein work cooperatively to reduce cholesterol. Here’s one more reason to eat your soy in close to whole form: Soy contains “inactive” components along with the “active” ones we’ve just discussed. It’s possible that some of these inactive components are required for the active ones to be useful.
Credit:health.glam.com