Meat Free Monday
No recipe for you today, but instead a list of the 10 best foods you should be incorporating into your diet. How many of these are you already eating? I hope you find inspiration in this list and if you have any favourite meatless recipes incorporating these foods, then please do send me the recipes.
The 10 Best Foods You Should Be Eating
- Beets are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power. - Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on sandwiches. - Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil. - Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal. - Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it. - Pumpkin seeds: Packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad. - Sardines: high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread. - Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish. - Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil. How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
- Pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Note: You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year.
Related Post: Can what you eat protect you against cancer
What a helpful list. Happy to say I love all of these ingredients and include them in my diet on a regular basis.
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Yes, like Mia, I love all these ingredients and knew they were good for me in some kind of vague way, but reading the science behind why this is so, I feel even more virtuous and pleased with myself now 🙂
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Is beets the same as beetroot? I love beetroot so hoping it is.
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Yup, I eat everything on this list except for Swiss Chard – any recipe ideas for what to do with this ingredient anyone?
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Love to sprinkle cinnamon on my pancake mix before cooking. Also add it to a baked apple for a delicious dessert.
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Like the other comments here, I am so pleased to see that I actually DO include a majority of these in my diet also.
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Since you posted a while back on the anti-cancer properties of turmeric, I always sprinkle it on my stews and soups now.
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Now that it’s coming into pumpkin season, I shall making lots of nutritious soups with this wonder ingredient.
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Liking that method of eating sardines!
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Have just been making up my weekly shopping list today and having read your latest post, am adding lots of these ingredients to it now 🙂
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Another great informative Meat Free Monday post!
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Unlike your other commenters, I have not been eating as many of these foods as I should. I’ll try to do better!
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Start small Nancy and you will soon find yourself incorporating them in your diet. Thanks so much for your comment.
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