The Best Healthy Foods and What They Can Do for You

This article will go over several healthy foods, why they are healthy and the benefits they have for you. In this day and age we are bombarded with so many choices. Most labels can be confusing. We assume when we see "all natural," "sugar free," "fat free" or "baked" they are the best choices. That can be true sometimes, but then other times it is not. This article will look at what foods are good for you and why.

First, we will look at the best foods that have antioxidants. Antioxidants
help to prevent or slow down oxidation. Some types of oxidation can damage cells. Broccoli is a great antioxidant food, as is cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. They are rich in antioxidant properties. Broccoli also is loaded with beta carotene. Source: crumcreek.com. Tomatoes are another great source for antioxidants. Tomatoes can ward off certain diseases and they also contain lycopene. Red Grapes and garlic both are great antioxidants.

Next let's look at foods rich in beta carotene. Beta carotene is a substance from plants that the body converts to vitamin A. Source: bellybytes.com. Good food choices that are high in beta carotene are pumpkin, squash, apricots, carrots, and spinach.

A lot of people suffer from low iron, or anemia. There are quite a few foods that have iron. A few of those foods are turkey, prunes, broccoli, lettuce, raisins, cabbage, almonds, and cashews. As you will probably notice several foods are rich in a lot of healthy vitamins and minerals. It is also important to take vitamin C or eat foods rich in vitamin C to help your body absorb the iron.

Vitamin C is also an antioxidant. Vitamin C also produces collagen which holds cells together. It is a great immune booster. Some foods that are rich in vitamin C are raspberries, citrus fruits, broccoli, tomatoes, papaya, kiwi and potatoes. Some of those items may have surprised you. Who knew you could get your vitamin C by eating a potato!

Potassium is very important for the body to maintain and balance water. Some foods that contain potassium are milk, yogurt, avacado, cantaloupe, raisins, chicken, fish, sweet potato and winter squash. Source: colostate.edu.

Healthy oils are an essential part of healthy eating. Canola oil is a good choice for cooking. Canola oil contains monounsaturated fatty acids and omega -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Consuming canola oil can help prevent or reduce your risk of heart disease and inflammation. Olive oil is another great choice. Olive oil works a lot in the same way as the canola oil. Olive oil contains antioxidants too. Source: healingdaily.com.

As you can tell, there are so many benefits from eating healthy foods. I mentioned earlier I would talk about foods and chemicals to watch out for. I think I will leave that for my next article!

Sources:

http://www.crumcreek.com
http://www.bellybytes.com
http://www.colostate.edu
http://www.healingdaily.com