Food is an essential part of life and wellness. It is our source of energy that allows us to live, work, and play. Food is also an incredibly social experience, bringing family and friends together around a table to enjoy a meal and conversation together. Many of us have diverse food likes and dislikes, and some people are more adventurous eaters than others. Regardless of what our preferences are, there are some foods that have effects that go beyond just satisfying our hunger. These super-foods can impact the quality of our skin and appearance, help with proper digestion, help us sleep better, and equip our bodies with the nutrients to ward off sickness and disease. Here’s a quick list of foods you should be incorporating into your everyday diet, for the improvement of your overall well being.
Skin
We all want to have better skin. Whether we suffer from acne, are forming wrinkles, or are fighting losing elasticity in our skin, everyone has something they would like to improve about their skin. What we eat has a correlation to what our skin looks like, as food affects our hormonal balances, can cause inflammation, increase oiliness, or cause an acne flare up.
One critical food to help your skin is tomatoes. Tomatoes can be eaten in their raw form or as a paste, and when eaten on a regular basis, tomatoes can have a significant impact on how well your skin prevents sunburn. One study found that people who ate tomatoes every day experienced 33% more protection against sunburn than their peers who were not eating tomatoes on a regular basis. This is due to lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes, which improves your skin’s barrier against the sun. Greater levels of lycopene are actually found in cooked and processed, rather than raw, tomatoes!
Increasing the number of herbs you consume can also have a significant impact on your skin’s health and appearance. Sprinkling some rosemary on your roasted potatoes or adding some dried thyme to your pizza can actually help you reduce your risk of melanoma. Both dried and fresh herbs are also packed with antioxidants that help your skin fight free radicals and protect your skin from sun damage.
Non-dairy milk, especially almond milk, are also great for supporting healthy, beautiful skin. Dairy products are highly inflammatory to the human body and can cause irritation on the skin in the form of rashes or acne break-outs. Dairy also contains many hormones that interact with the hormones in our bodies, which can overstimulate the oil glands in our skin and actually cause accelerated aging in our skin. Almond milk contains certain flavonoids that are incredibly nourishing for your skin cells. It is also rich in Vitamin E, which is useful in combatting severe acne and regenerating healthier, less acne-prone skin cells.
Liver:
The liver has many functions and plays a critical role in the proper operation of the human digestive system. The liver helps to process nutrients that are absorbed through digestion, but also helps to processes and remove the fat, chemicals and toxins that come in lots of packaged and processed food. Some of the best foods that assist your liver in its function are crucifer vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and bok choy. These vegetables are high in vital phytonutrients that help the liver handle potentially damaging chemicals and pesticides that are in our food. Garlic is also vital in liver support and detoxification. Allicin, a compound found in garlic, helps your liver process and eliminate mercury, some food additives, and excess estrogen.
You should also look to incorporate some family members of garlic, such as onions, shallots, and leeks. These vegetables can be added to almost any meal and contain compounds that support the liver through the production of glutathione. Glutathione is needed in human cells to help neutralize damage caused by free radicals.
Heart
Want a tasty way to make your heart beat stronger? Start with salmon! This delicious fish is packed with omega-3 fatty acids that help your heart and help to ward off heart disease. Salmon also contains selenium, which can help protect your cardiovascular system and help improve metabolism. Make sure to find wild caught salmon, rather than farmed fish, as farmed fish can be fed with foods treated with chemicals and preservatives.
Nuts are also great, versatile, heart-healthy foods that are full of omega-3s, along with other heart-friendly properties like Vitamin E and folate. Walnuts and almonds, for example, are great eaten raw over your morning oatmeal, are satiating as a midday snack, and can be used to bulk up a tasty salad. Snacking on nuts or incorporating them into your meals will also help reduce your risk of heart disease and help lower LDL cholesterol, which is notorious for clogging up your arteries.
Beans and legumes like chickpeas, black beans, and lentils are also promoters of heart health because they are loaded with soluble fiber. This type of fiber helps to lower your LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and build your HDL cholesterol (the good kind). Increasing your HDL cholesterol is good for your heart health because it provides stability within your cells while also working to control and remove bad cholesterol.
Eyes
You’ve probably heard since childhood that you should eat carrots to see better in the dark. This is more than just a saying parents tell their children to get them to eat their vegetables – it’s actually true! Carrots, along with other orange-colored fruits and vegetables, are loaded with essential vitamins and nutrients that keep your eyes healthy and functional. Specifically, beta-carotene helps the different parts of your eye function smoothly.
Additionally, leafy greens, citrus fruits, and berries like strawberries and blueberries are full of antioxidants and vitamins. These foods are especially high in Vitamin C, which can reduce the risk of developing cataracts and slow or prevent macular degeneration. Eating foods rich in antioxidants and Vitamin C is especially important to ward off macular degeneration, as it is especially damaging as a leading cause of vision loss and is currently incurable.