Hot Body Training

Yesterday, I posted the first half of this article and gave you 5 of my top 10 super foods. Here are the remaining 5.

Broccoli
I know, we all hated eating broccoli when we were kids, but your mother was right when she insisted that you eat the stuff. A study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins University found that broccoli can prevent 60 percent of cancer related tumours and reduced the size of existing ones by 75 percent. A high intake of broccoli has been shown to be very effective at reducing the risk of prostate cancer. Broccoli is the king of nutrients and packs more than any other vegetable. These include as much vitamin C as an orange, almost as much calcium as a glass of milk, a healthy dose of fibre and is also one of the richest sources of Vitamin A.

Romanesco Broccoli

Broccoli also contains a large dose of indoles, which are naturally occurring oestrogen blockers. This is especially important for you guys out there as we are exposed to too many environmental estrogens from things like plastics.

Lean, Grass fed Beef
I believe that meat has got a bad rap of late. I’m a vegetarian myself and by not consuming meat I really feel like I’m missing out nutritionally. Unlike most vegans and vegetarians who whinge on about how bad meat is for you just to justify there own life choices, I actually believe it’s good for you.

Let’s get onto the ‘grass fed’ bit. Most beef these days is corn fed beef. The problem with corn fed beef is in the fatty acid profile. Corn fed beef has a ratio of up to 20:1 Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s. Contrast this to grass fed beef where that ratio is 3 or 4 to 1, which is pretty close to the ratio that we want to stay healthy. Grass fed beef also has a lot less saturated fat than its corn fed friends, plus a grass fed cow is a happy cow. The bottom line: Grass fed beef is good for you.

Plain Yogurt
Plain Yogurt contains live active cultures that are essential for proper gut health. These cultures promote the growth of good bacteria in the gut and inhibit the growth of bad bacteria. Fixing your gastro-intestinal health will ensure that the nutrients you consume from these super foods are being put to use. It can also help with irritable bowl syndrome, ulcers, and diarrhoea.

Try to get the low fat variety. You can throw in some blueberries or chopped strawberries and a spoonful of honey and you will have a snack that is far more healthy and a lot tastier than the sugar laden junk that passes for flavoured yoghurt.

Quinoa
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), a recently rediscovered grain-like food is native to South America and was cultivated by the Incas over 5000 years ago. It is commonly referred to as a grain, but is actually a seed related to the spinach family. Quinoa is packed full of antioxidants and phytonutrients. It is one of the only complete plant protein sources. It also has loads of magnesium, manganese, copper and fibre.

Quinoa has a subtle, nutty taste and can be used as a great substitute for rice or any other grains. If you can’t find it in supermarkets, try a health food store.

Walnuts
I hate to keep banging on about it, but Omega 3’s are really important. Not surprisingly then, walnuts contain the most Omega 3 fatty acids in the nut family. Add to this the fact that they contain lots of cholesterol reducing plant sterols and is the nut with the highest anti-oxidant levels and you begin to see why they’re included on the list.

Nuts are a quick, easy snack when you’re on the go and in addition to all the healthy fats they provide, they also have a fair amount of fibre, protein and low glycemic carbs to make them an ideal snack.

Don’t be a total organic freak!
Try to buy organic produce where possible as they contain far more nutrients that chemically grown crops, but don’t panic if you can’t always find what you want. I know somebody who won’t eat anything that isn’t organic. To me, this is just silly as all you end up doing is narrowing your dietary options. Eating regular produce isn’t going to kill you and is still doing you good, even if it’s not as good as organic.

The same can be said for your grass fed beef and wild salmon. If you can’t always get it, the regular old corn fed stuff is alright.

You don’t need to be consuming all of these super foods all of the time, but try to include as many of them in your diet as often as possible. This definitely shouldn’t be seen as an exhaustive list. It probably could have been a top 100 list, so you can probably look forward to a Super Foods part III in the not to distant future.

Here’s part 1 of this article: 10 Super Foods You Should Be Eating

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