There’s a plethora of potions and pills on the market for just about anyone’s ills. Flipping through magazines, advertisements for these scientific and medical breakthroughs abound. While it’s impossible to know how many of these products are scientifically sound and which are snake oil, their ads do tell us one thing: a lot of people are looking to improve their health. Luckily, sound nutrition offers abundant, and sometimes unexpected, health benefits that effectively target many of the very same concerns as these products.
Forget spending money on jars of anti-aging cream. The health benefits of nutrition show up right on your face. The nutrition found in certain foods works wonders on the skin when taken internally. Fruits and vegetables, particularly carrots, peas, citrus fruits, and cauliflower, provide high levels of powerful anti-oxidant nutrition, which cleanses the body of free radicals. Free radicals are age-accelerating substances that humans produce naturally, and they affect more than a person’s health. Too many of them also result in dullness, fine lines and wrinkles. Pollution, smoking and processed foods increase the number of free-radicals a person produces; anti-oxidant-rich nutrition mops them right up. The result is radiant skin—so eat your fruits and veggies!
Of course, you want to get to an advanced age before worrying about wrinkles. You can help to ensure robust health by taking in the same anti-oxidant rich nutrition. Anti-oxidants not only improve the skin, they significantly reduce and prevent cancer—another great reason to get your five to eight servings of fruits and vegetables every day. The nutrition in some foods is excellent for battling certain particular diseases. For example, concentrated tomato products like ketchup and pizza sauce are high in lycopene, shown to effectively combat mouth and lung cancers. Tofu, soybeans, and other foods rich in soy are excellent nutrition for preventing hormone-related cancers and heart disease. Last, the red pigment in red grapes and raspberries contains ellagic acid, a substance known to halt cervical cancer right in its tracks. Other preventives include the nutrition found in green tea, chili and jalapeno peppers, garlic, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. A diet rich in nutrition from all of these foods is truly one of the best gifts you can give your body.
What about nutrition and mental health? Nutrition plays a very important role in keeping your brain in tiptop shape. One of the most powerful brain foods out there is found in fish (especially salmon) and flaxseed oils. The Omega-3 fatty acids in such oils help to lubricate the neurotransmitters that send and receive messages in the brain. That translates into more efficient thinking, decreased depression, easing of anxiety, and more. Other foods loaded with brain-healthy nutrition include avocados, bananas, dairy products, tuna, peanut butter, eggs and wheat germ.
If you find yourself prone to irritability, protect your nervous system with nutrition from iron and B vitamins, both found in foods such as spinach. Processed foods are often high in hydrogenated fats, which compete with your brain’s natural fats and inhibit blood flow to the brain—be sure to avoid these! It’s also wise to avoid excessive sugars and starch, as they tend to cause draining fluctuations in your mental energy level. Generally, proteins and complex carbohydrates are first-rate nutrition for mental health and alertness.
By Nicole Zillmer