Articles ¬ Eating In ¬ Top Ten Foods

Much of an appointment with my patients is spent talking about diet and what foods are healthy for them. This time for To Your Health I wanted to compile a top ten list of foods that everyone should be eating more of for prevention of illness and just plain feeling good

Garlic and onions would definitely have to make it to this list. These foods are anti-microbial, lower cholesterol, decrease blood pressure and can protect us from some forms of cancer. The compounds that make garlic and onions work (and smell) contain sulfur. After a few days of increasing your intake of garlic and onions you will find that you do not smell of them as the enzyme in your body that breaks these sulfur containing compounds down will increase.

Cayenne pepper is another great food to include in your daily diet. Cayenne is high in vitamins A and C. This food is very important for improving digestion and circulation. You don't need to make your food overly spicy, you only need to add a pinch of cayenne to one dish daily to have it work medicinally. Ginger is also great for digestion and circulation. Along with these medicinal uses ginger also helps with nausea, migraines and the flu. Ginger is high in niacin and vitamin A. It is best to use ginger in its fresh root form, either chopped finely or shredded. If you are cooking ginger make sure to not over cook it and if making a tea use one quarter to one half a teaspoon of the root and steep it for five minutes.

Almonds are high in a form of calcium that is very accessible to the body. Almonds can be a replacement for mild antacids and for this should be used in their raw form. Just chew three to four of them when needed for heartburn.

Lemons are another item to include in the top ten food list. Lemons are the highest in vitamin C of all of the citrus fruits. A general practice that would benefit most people daily would be to have the unsweetened juice of half of a fresh lemon with four to six ounces of water ten minutes before breakfast. In Chinese medicine, it is believed that all parts of the body respond to different flavors. The digestion and liver function are believed to be helped by sour and bitter foods.

There is a huge deal being made over soy products now in the media, especially with the new studies coming out revealing the problems that may occur for women using hormonal replacement therapies. Soy products help to balance hormonal levels in women, but this property is mild enough for men and children to still be able to use these foods. Soy products also are naturally high in calcium and many other essential nutrients making them a great alternative to dairy products.

A superb source of fiber, which unlike wheat bran is non-gas forming is ground flaxseeds. These ground seeds work great in baking, but can also be sprinkled on yogurt or apple sauce. Besides being high in fiber flax seeds are an important source of essential fatty acids, which are an extremely important form of fats that can help reduce cholesterol and inflammation in the body, support a healthy nervous system and skin, and can reduce allergic reactions.

I wanted to make sure that fruits and vegetables were included because over my years of practice I have seen that people just don't eat enough. People need to have at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily and want to make sure that the color of these choices are varied, because the color of produce is influenced by its nutritional content.

Fish is a great source of protein which has next to no cholesterol and is easily digested for us meat eaters. Some fish are more beneficial due to their essential fatty acid content and they include mackerel, salmon, sardines, and herring. You would want to eat three servings of any of these fish per week to get their benefit. Make sure that the fish you choose is not farmed as this greatly decreases its content of these fatty acids. Also form the ocean is seaweed. Seaweed like local dulce or the more exotic Japanese versions, is an excellent way to increase iodine intake. Only a teaspoon two to three times weekly is needed. It goes great in egg dishes and soups and can be used instead of adding salt.

So there you have it, the Top Ten Food List. Foods that are not only nutritious but also delicious. Hopefully, I have answered some of your questions about which foods are important to eat more often.

Bon Appetit.

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