Six Superfoods to Boost Your Health

Six Superfoods to Boost Your Health

Improve your health and wellbeing with these tasty foods on your dinner plate

Tucking into a tasty meal is one of the great pleasures in life. Whether your favourite is a roast dinner, or a fresh seafood salad, or bowl of strawberries - food should be health-giving and sustaining to body and mind. It was the founding father of medicine, an ancient Greek physician called Hippocrates, who said:

 'Let food be your medicine...'

What he meant is that the food you choose to eat should not only stop you feeling hungry, but that it should keep your body healthy - and even heal it. It's the idea of choosing health-giving foods which offer you a better chance of staying well and staying away from the doctor. This idea is especially relevant today as families find it increasingly easy to reach for the fast food menu or toss a highly processed pre-packed meal into the microwave, rather than taking the time to cook from scratch.

Change your mindset towards food. Think of food as a way to keep your body, mind and soul healthy and balanced, rather than just as a quick-fix to stop you feeling hungry. The act of cooking is a ritual of act of caring for your family. No matter how many stars a restaurant has it can never compete with the meal that you cook for your family - because home-cooking is made with love for people whom you love. The best choices for home cooking are simple, organic, locally sourced ingredients.

You can boost your diet by eating certain foods that are high in vitamins and minerals. The obvious ones are fresh fruit and vegetables - local and raw, or very lightly cooked ensures you preserve the most nutrients. Here are some of the most health-giving foods which you should be putting on your plate.

*Dark Chocolate

Eating well doesn't mean you have to consign yourself to no treats. Luscious dark chocolate is made from the cocoa beans of the cacao tree. Choose chocolate containing at least 70 per cent or more coco solids. The cheap, sugary candy bars have no health benefits. But rich dark chocolate has plenty of health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke, reducing cholesterol, protecting your skin against sun damage, improving brain function in older people, reducing the risk of bowel cancer and even reducing your stress levels! It's also packed with zinc, potassium, selenium and iron - all essential nutrients needed to keep your body healthy.

*Green Tea

This green elixir has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine and culture for its health-giving properties. It is now becoming more popular in the West. Green tea is bursting with B vitamins, folic acid, manganese, potassium, magnesium, and other antioxidants, which will help to keep you healthy. There's evidence green tea may cut cholesterol levels - so help to prevent heart disease and stroke. A version of green tea, called matcha is said to pack an even greater healthy punch. It's made from the youngest, freshest tea leaves, which are grown under shade to preserve nutrients, and it is ground into a power so you consume the tea rather than just strain it. Sipping a cup of matcha can help you burn calories faster because it speeds up metabolism, stopping you storing calories as excess fat. Green tea and match are rich in antioxidants, called catechins and polyphenols, which protect your heart from disease.

*Broccoli

Don't wrinkle your nose at this powerhouse of nutrients! The reason why many people think they don't like broccoli is because they only ever eaten it after it's been boiled to death and is limp and soggy. Try lightly stir frying it in a blob of butter (yes, butter! It's better for you than processed vegetable oils). Lightly cooked broccoli which has a slight crunch is delicious. It can also reduce your risk of cancer, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. It's bursting with vitamins and minerals, including calcium, which will help your body function well.

If these health benefits aren't enough to rid you of your dislike for broccoli, try other dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, kale or cabbage or bok choy, which all have similar health benefits.

*Strawberries

Ruby red and irresistibly sweet, what's not to love about these juicy berries? The best thing is that they're fantastic for your health. Strawberries are exceptionally high in vitamin C, which protects you against infections by boosting your immunity. The antioxidants in this fruit may protect your eyes from cataracts, as well as protecting against cancers. There's evidence that these tasty fruits can prevent wrinkles on your skin, too, because the high levels of vitamin C in them help preserve collagen in your skin, which keeps your skin plump and youthful.

*Garlic

Love it or hate it - garlic is certainly beneficial for your body. Widely used in Mediterranean and Asian cooking, this pungent bulb adds a hit of flavour to your food. Adding a small amount of garlic to your cooking can improve your blood circulation, give you healthier cholesterol levels and lower your blood pressure, as well as fighting infection, with some studies even claiming it can reduce the severity of common cold symptoms. Eat it and you'll get a boost of vitamins C and B6, as well as manganese, selenium for good health.

*Cinnamon

A warming spice that’s made from the bark of the evergreen tree, cinnamon complements both sweet and savoury food. It's been found to regulate blood sugar, which is beneficial for weight loss because increased blood sugar levels can cause excess fat to be stored, especially belly fat. A study found cinnamon protects against type 2 diabetes by lowering blood glucose levels. Also, the spice is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which means it can potentially reduce heart disease risk, ease arthritis and target other chronic conditions triggered by inflammation. Sprinkle it onto your porridge in the morning, or add it to your baking or savoury cooking.