Awhile back I wrote about super foods, quoting a great deal from a book called SuperFoods by Steven Pratt. (Reread Superfoods on my website under Hot News.) To briefly recap, the "Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life" are beans, blueberries, broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin (or any yellow squash), wild salmon, spinach, tea, tomatoes, turkey, walnuts and yogurt. You're right - that's only thirteen. Pratt and I diverge in calling soy one of the super foods. As most of you know, I think soy, esp. in the form of those white cakes of tofu, is probably OK for pigs, but not for humans. (Reread Soy Redux. on my website under Hot News.) Now I want to talk about Uber-Super Foods, or foods you can buy and include in your diet that are off-the-charts good for you in terms of cancer prevention, antioxidant activity and retardation of aging.
Acai: First of all, you pronounce this word ah-sah-EE. And, if my computer could do it, I would put a little swirly thing under the "c" and a little apostrophe thing up over the "i". Acai is a bluish-black berry from a palm tree in the Brazilian rainforest. Here's the good stuff: It contains 10 times the anthocyanins of red wine and is one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants. It also contains catechins, quercetin, flavonols, and resveratrol, all wonderful phytonutrients.
It is a cancer suppressor and is being studied now as a longevity food. In an in vitro (test tube) study performed at the University of Florida, acai extract destroyed up to 86% of leukemia cells. Acai is arguably the very best, highest potency antioxidant so far known to us: The ORAC reading (measures antioxidant capacities) is an astounding 442 per gram, as compared to 154 for green peppers, 102 for cauliflower. I carry a product called Acai Ultra which has been assayed for potency - a very good product. You can also buy Acai drinks at health markets which taste pretty good, but I'm not sure how potent they are.
Yerba Mate: This is pronounced yerba mah-tay. This is a South American tea which is higher in heart healthy antioxidants than both green tea and red wine. It stops LDL's from oxidation and is thought to be a weight loss aid. Some people claim that it prevents colds and flu and alleviates allergies. It has a very distinctive flavor - sort of deeply grassy - which I have grown to like a lot. And since it has caffeine in it, it does rev you up a bit, but the "high" is really pleasant, not jangly like a Fourbucks double Americano. In fact, I feel like I have taken a happy pill after I drink a cup of Yerba Mate - my mood lifts and the world looks a little brighter. I highly recommend this tea on many different levels. Good with milk and agave.
Sour cherries: A sour cherry is natural ibuprofen. For example, just 12 oz of Montmorency cherry juice per day can help reduce muscle pain caused by exercise if you drink it before exercising. It has both pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. Although no research can back up this claim, anecdotal info from way back indicates that eating sour cherries or drinking the juice is a great way to prevent attacks of gout and to shorten an existing attack. The bad news is that dried sour cherries are expensive; the good news is that Costco sells big bags of Montmorency dried cherries for much less than Whole Paycheck.
Pomegranates: Pomegranates are great for almost everything. Just Pom from Knudson's is the one to buy because it is, as it says, just pomegranate juice with nothing added. Studies from UCLA in 2006 showed that drinking 8 oz of pomegranate juice per day can slow the spread of prostate cancer and I suppose, by inference, could possibly prevent prostate and other cancers. It also has been shown to lower blood pressure and to prevent heart disease and osteoarthritis. I drink my Just Pom diluted with water - get ready for a very tart, not very sweet drink - and I also like pomegranate seeds sprinkled on salads.
Mangosteen: It has nothing to do with a mango. It is a reddish-purple fruit that grows in subtropical climates. You can't buy the fruit here in the States, but sometimes you can find frozen mangosteens in Asian markets. Mangosteens claim to fame is its levels of xanthones (pronounced zan-thones) found primarily in its rind, seeds and resinous yellow juice. It helps the body fight inflammation and free radical damage, both of which contribute to the formation of heart disease and cancer. I found Mangosteen juice in the pharmacy section at Costco for about $18 per quart. Mixed with guava, pineapple, mango and grape, Thai Mangosteenhas a delicious, quite strong and tart flavor. I drink about 1 to 2 ounces per day.
Sesame Seeds: These tiny seeds from Turkey and Persia contain high amounts of lignans, the same phenolic compounds in flaxseeds that help to regulate hormones. They can also lower cholesterol levels and may reduce the risk of heart attack. Anecdotally, sesame in the form of seeds and butters can also help retard the growth of blood and lymph cancers. I like to roast my sesame seeds along with sunflower, pumpkin and walnuts and sprinkle the mixture over my salads. You can also make a wonderful sesame tahini salad dressing simply by blending some tahini into a prepared vinaigrette like Annie's or Paul Newman's etc.
Goji Berries: Also called wolfberries, they look like raisins, except they pack a greater punch. Dr. Perricone loves goji berries and says that the goji berry may be the only food that can raise human growth hormone. HGH decreases rapidly with age leaving us wrinkled, bird-legged and foggy-brained. Goji berries contain more vitamin C than oranges, more beta carotene than carrots and more iron than spinach. You will be seeing packaged goji berries more and more as their popularity soars. Young Living has been selling wolfberries for years, so if you are a member, you can get them there. I also saw them in a trail mix at Wild Oats. Mix them in your cereal, eat them out of hand or throw a few into your smoothie.
So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, Jim, is this: Each week, make sure that you dip not only into the Super 14 (well, 13) but also the top seven uber-supers that I just mentioned. Buy them and have them handy and available to you. I guarantee that if you start including the Super-13 and the uber-seven, you will feel better, look better and will probably add years to your life and life to your years. Our goal here is not to live forever, but to "live long and die short." And that's what eating consciously can do for you.
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