julia

June 30, 2008, New york times
The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

Maybe you should be eating more beets, left, or chopped cabbage. (Credit: Evan Sung for The New York Times, left

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they 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.
2. 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 burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and 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.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are 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.
9. 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.
10. 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; associated with better memory in animal studies.
How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned 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.

You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year.

In my own house, I only have two of these items — pumpkin seeds, which I often roast and put on salads, and frozen blueberries, which I mix with milk, yogurt and other fruits for morning smoothies. How about you? Have any of these foods found their way into your shopping cart?
The 11 Best Foods You Arent Eating - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

K2Flex

4,5,8, and 11 are all in my diet already. Espically sardines. Sometimes I can't get enough!

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What is the goal of fear.....Power.

Dianekkdi

Why would you fuck up a perfectly good prune by wrapping it in prosciutto?

Prosciutto is an Italian ham that has been seasoned, salt-cured.

Perhaps you could at least make sure to get your pig hormone free? Or maybe you could say, "fuck the nitrates and all that other chemical shit; I'm eating a dried plum antioxidant prune thing!"

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julia

Some had thought that sprouts were mentioned so I wanted to help them with their goal of clarity.

W.M.DEEEZ

I think the sprouts were from a quip from the fast food thread.

I believe that post by Cookie predated this thread by months. Maybe the pomegranate thing was a coincidence?


BTW...I read this piece somewhere...I eat many of them too, but I would 86 the swine with my prunes too.

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Malkavian

Picture on the left looks like a baby rat and a baby bird. Confused me for second (where were the other nine foods?).

Anyway, sardines rock, and so do the blueberries and cabbage. But screw the pumpkin. Never got into it. It's not as bad as the eggplant though, so there may be hope...

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K2Flex

Whoooooohoooo! Someone other than me likes sardines!!!!
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Anyways Julia, sardines aren't really all too gross. Just have to get the good ones, the ones that have no heads, guts or bones. Try them with spaghetti, or use spaghetti sauce as a dip. Tasty!

__________________
Even though I walk through the valley of shadow and death, I shall fear no evil. For I'm the meanest motherfucker in the whole fucking valley!
What is the goal of fear.....Power.