Let's talk about underrated healthy food!

[UNCfan1]

Healthy food talk

Berries!

Blackberries and Raspberries pack 10g and 8g of fiber per cup! Not to mention the wonderful anti-cancer benefits from them. I just started to add these to my shakes. Yummy, I mix Black, Blue, Strawberry and Raspberries with 40g of vanilla whey with some flaxseed oil, milk and ice. Yummy! The seeds are high in Zinc so keep that in mind too.

Peppers!

Hot or Green these babies are packed with a phytochemical with its claim to fame is capsaicin, which helps short-circuit the cancer process.

Nuts!

Everyone knows about the health benefits of nuts, packed alot of mono fats great for heart health, but Brazil nuts that Dinoiii brought to my attention can give u with just three to four nuts deliver an astronomical 420 mcg of selenium, eight times the recommended daily amount.

Pomegranate or Pomegranate juice

Antioxidants are the naturally occurring substances in plants that protect the body from free radicals, which are highly reactive atoms or molecules that interfere with normal cellular functions. Free radicals abound in our modern society in the form of pollutants, food additives, pesticides, herbicides, cigarette smoke, etc, ad nauseum. For example, free radicals can cause cellular damage to cellular components including RNA/DNA, which can potentially lead to cancer. Free radicals can alter cholesterol in an oxidation process in the arteries. This process appears to speed up the onset of atherosclerosis, a type of arteriosclerosis (often referred to as "hardening of the arteries" or "plaque build-up" on arterial walls). Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of "heart disease", the number one killer in North America and other countries that have adopted the modern Standard American Diet (SAD). Nobel laureate chemist Linus Pauling isolated the initial cause of hardening of the arteries to lack of a well-known antioxidant--vitamin C.


The recent interest in the antioxidant power of pomegranates began primarily in 2000 when a group of scientists in Israel demonstrated the effectiveness of pomegranates in treating atherosclerosis. The research was headed by Professor Michael Aviram, an internationally recognized authority on the effect of food on heart disease. Professor Aviram was the first to prove the beneficial effects of red wine on cholesterol oxidation in humans.

"Antioxidants can protect us against the oxidative stress in our industrialized world, such as pollution, chemicals, viruses and bacteria, and consequently cardiovascular diseases and cancer," said Professor Aviram. His research shows that pomegranate juice contains the highest antioxidant capacity compared to other juices, red wine, green tea, tomatoes, vitamin E and other headline makers. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have independently confirmed that pomegranate juice contains at least three major antioxidants. Pomegranate juice has three times the antioxidant power of red wine or green tea (using the Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity test).

POMEGRANATES FOR HEART DISEASE

Dr. Aviram and his scientific research group tested pomegranate juice on both humans and laboratory mice which were genetically predisposed to develop heart disease. They found that pomegranate juice decreased LDL ("bad cholesterol") and increased HDL ("good cholesterol") by 20% in humans. The oxidation of LDL, which is believed by many researchers to be a major cause of heart disease, was reduced by up to 90%.

This sounds very promising for those wishing to prevent atherosclerosis--But what about getting rid of the plaque build-up that already exists in the arteries which can cause a heart attack or stroke? Fortunately, pomegranate juice consumption significantly reduced the size of arterial plaque both in human subjects and mice. Nineteen patients from 65 to 75 years of age with severe carotid artery stenosis (70 to 90 percent occlusion) were given 50 ml of concentrated, pasteurized pomegranate juice daily. This concentrate was equivalent to 8.3 ounces of 100% pomegranate juice. After one year the mean carotid artery thickness was reduced 35%. During the same time period the mean artery thickness significantly increased in the placebo group. The arterial plaque in laboratory mice was reduced by as much as 44%.

In this research conducted over a three year period, Professor Aviram and his research group further showed that pomegranate juice could significantly lower the systolic blood pressure of hypertensive patients in just two weeks. Patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease showed great improvement in many important physiological measurements and pathological signs compared to the control group. The Aviram research group concluded that pomegranate juice can offer a wide protection against cardiovascular diseases which may be attributable to its antioxidative properties.

POMEGRANATE FOR CANCER

Recent scientific research is demonstrating that pomegranate may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of various types of cancer such as breast cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. Research using both mouse mammary organ culture and human breast cancer cells in vitro has demonstrated anticancer effects of pomegranate extracts. Dr. Hasan Mukhtar and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin have shown that a topically-applied pomegranate fruit extract can block skin tumor formation in mice. Another study demonstrated significant antitumor activity of pomegranate-derived materials against human prostate cancer. Yet another study shows the extracts of pomegranate can promote differentiation--the ability of cancer cells to revert to their normal counterparts.

Pomegranates are the richest source of a natural substance called ellagic acid. According to master herbalist and certified nutritionist Donald Yance in his book HERBAL MEDICINE, HEALING & CANCER, ellagic acid "inhibits cancer formation and is believed to inhibit cancer mutation by latching onto DNA-masking sensitive sites on the genetic material that might otherwise be occupied by harmful chemicals. Ellagic acid is particularly effective in the inhibition of lung cancer caused by tobacco."

Pomegranate also contains the anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins (flavonoids), which are substances that have been shown in animal and test tube experiments to reduce tumor angiogenesis.

More Pomegranate Benefits

Pomegranate has been gaining popularity for menopausal symptoms due to the increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes from artificial hormone replacement therapy. Certain herbs contain estrogen-like substances that do not have the serious side effects of prescription medications. Pomegranate contains estrone, a natural estrogen which is also produced by the human body. According to one study using mice, pomegranate extract improved the menopausal symptoms of depression and bone loss.

Pomegranate has also shown to possess anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. The bark of the tree and root have been used in traditional medicine to eliminate tapeworms.

[Paladin]

Great Post man, I love the berries myself.....However my wife did not stop yelling and laughing at how long you went on about the Pomegranates. She loves them, and had a large thing of Pom Juice yesterday and I just don't see the value, they take forever to peel with all those little seeds, just not worth it to me, but she really loved your post. And has yet to stop harassing me about it. LOL

[UNCfan1]

Originally Posted by Paladin

Great Post man, I love the berries myself.....However my wife did not stop yelling and laughing at how long you went on about the Pomegranates. She loves them, and had a large thing of Pom Juice yesterday and I just don't see the value, they take forever to peel with all those little seeds, just not worth it to me, but she really loved your post. And has yet to stop harassing me about it. LOL

Thats Paladin, I copied and pasted the pom juice. Glad she enjoyed it too.

I just got to where I am really starting to focus on my diet, more gear towards health than all out bulking like I was doing before. Pom juice is pretty good, I have tried out whole poms though. Prob not as I don't have patienace for peeling.

[dalvare1]

Bananas.

I have started doing bananas a lot and they taste great, relatively low GI, and packed with vitamins.

[ddawg91]

Love berries and nuts (no homo). I really like eating pomigranate but it is a pain so the pure juice is my replacement.

[dinoiii]

Originally Posted by dalvare1

Bananas.

I have started doing bananas a lot and they taste great, relatively low GI, and packed with vitamins.

To hell with GI. Bananas have little value in the day and a life of a "natural" body composition athlete.

The average banana sports 200 calories...51 grams of carbohydrate (28 grams of which are fructose and other sugars), and what I feel to be a dismal vitamin rating comparative to other fruits...we'll take a look at the Big 4 vits/mins:

Vit A: 3% DV
Calcium: 1% DV
Vitamin C: 33% DV (though this can be obtained elsewhere at less the caloric expenditure)
Iron: 3%


Now, everyone likes to play the potassium offering. This is an old-school suggestion because oldER people love their bananas - without teeth, oftentimes this is one of the easiest things to mash down. There are plenty of potassium offerings and I call BS on bananas being as "healthy" as they have gained acclaim. This is a MYTH food to me.



D_

[egodog48]

Originally Posted by dinoiii

To hell with GI. Bananas have little value in the day and a life of a "natural" body composition athlete.

The average banana sports 200 calories...51 grams of carbohydrate (28 grams of which are fructose and other sugars), and what I feel to be a dismal vitamin rating comparative to other fruits...we'll take a look at the Big 4 vits/mins:

Vit A: 3% DV
Calcium: 1% DV
Vitamin C: 33% DV (though this can be obtained elsewhere at less the caloric expenditure)
Iron: 3%


Now, everyone likes to play the potassium offering. This is an old-school suggestion because oldER people love their bananas - without teeth, oftentimes this is one of the easiest things to mash down. There are plenty of potassium offerings and I call BS on bananas being as "healthy" as they have gained acclaim. This is a MYTH food to me.



D_

Thanks for ruining it for me. But really, that does suck because I thought I was doing myself justice with a constant supply of bananas.

[dalvare1]

I eat a banana sometimes with my preworkout meal.

Thanks for the flame though.

[LBVT]

Salmon and other fish.

I just read an article on Yahoo! news that said bison is the healthiest red meat. I wonder how it tastes.

[janedoe]

Originally Posted by LBVT

Salmon and other fish.

I just read an article on Yahoo! news that said bison is the healthiest red meat. I wonder how it tastes.

The bison I tried was a bit tough and sort of 'gamey' tasting. It might have just been a poor cut of meat, though. I would try it again!