The Winter Wellness Diet - 14

SUPER FOODS
One of the keys to overall health for the rest of your life are “super foods.” Why is there
a grading system in school? Because there is some work that stands out from the rest
as better. Super foods get an A+ when it comes to nutrition. Super foods are classified
as high nutrient, low calorie foods that give us more of what we need and less of what
we don’t than the average food. There are super foods when it comes to every food
category: grains, seeds, fruits, green leafy vegetables, root vegetables, etc... Just like
in school, there are some plants that just stand out from the rest.
By incorporating more super foods into our diets, we can realize many benefits including
appetite decrease. Remember how our bodies want to eat more because they aren’t
getting enough nutrients? Wouldn’t it be nice to not feel hungry? No one can fault you
for wanting to eat more with your normal diet. If your normal diet doesn’t give your body
enough of what it needs in reasonable portions, of course it will want to eat more!
Super foods will help your body get more of what it wants with less calories. Isn’t that
fantastic news?
Days that I am not exercising or going to the gym are interesting ones. I generally don’t
eat anything solid until late lunchtime. Super food drinks that I make give my body so
many nutrients to operate on, I’m not even hungry. It’s quite an amazing experience.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting enough calories, but they are in the form of nutrient
dense super food shakes, smoothies and juices. My body has everything it wants and
needs. As a result, I don’t feel hungry. This is coming from a guy with a RMR (resting
metabolic rate) of 3000+ calories per day according to “modern medicine.” Once again
our bodies are much more concerned with nutrients over calories. Focus on getting the
most nutrients and you’ll be fine with the calories. I am not withering away as I’m writing
this book, I can assure you of that.
OK, enough stalling, here are some examples of super foods that should be easy for
you to incorporate into your daily life and can be found at many produce stores, health
food stores and even regular grocery stores.
Leafy Greens
Spinach: This green leafy plant is a true wonder. Low in calories but packed with almost
all the vitamins present, a good variety of minerals, plant sterols and even amino acids.
It’s easy to make salads with, add to smoothies and even saute in large quantities
because it will reduce in size when cooked. (I only advise cooking spinach if you are
getting plenty of raw foods otherwise.)
Kale: Another green leafy miracle, Kale actually doesn’t shrink when it’s cooked but
gets a bit softer. It contains a high amount of Vitamins A,C and K.
Cruciferous vegetables: are especially high in anti-cancer compounds. Although low in
calories, they are high in nutrients and fiber which will help fill you up without weighing
you down. They include kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, watercress,
radishes and wasabi. I should mention brussels sprouts too, although not my favorite
some people love them.
Veggies:
Sweet Potatoes/Yams: A great place to get high quality carbohydrates, they have a
wide spectrum of amino acids, are high in Vitamin A and minerals. These are one of the
best foods around.
Onions: Pretty much any onion is going to be a strong anti-inflammatory agent. They
help to clean your blood, are low in calories but provide a nice spectrum of vitamins and
minerals. Members of the onion family include scallions and garlic! They are a must
have addition to any soups, salads or stir frys.
Fruits: Pretty much any fruit is good for you. They are alkalizing to your body and
digest with relative ease. Grocery stores always have a good variety of fruits that you
can buy, but I’ll mention some fruits from around the world that are pretty amazing!
Acai berry: This Amazonian berry has become very popular in the American marketing
machine. Yes, it is packed with vitamins and minerals, but it also has healthy omega
fats and other phytochemicals like resveratrol which has been linked to anti-aging and
anti-cancer.
Goji berry: These berries from the Himalayas are truly remarkable. They contain 19
amino acid including 8 essential ones. Pound for pound they have 500 times more
Vitamin C than oranges, more carotene than carrots, trace minerals and tons of other
phytochemicals and anti-oxidants.
Camu berry: A native berry from Peru, this reddish-pink, cranberry-looking berry boasts
the highest known Vitamin C content of any food! It is easily consumed and has a
pleasant sweet and tart flavor.
Pomegranate: It looks like your heart, and coincidentally has many heart-healthy
phytochemicals. High in potassium, these wonder fruits help to balance out the high
salt diet that is standard American fare. They are pretty easy to remove the seeds if you
split it in half and then submerge the fruit in water to get at the seeds!
Grapefruits: Having a good amount of Vitamins A and C there are also some pretty
powerful compounds in the seeds and skin of grapefruits that can be realized if you
juice them. Fresh grapefruit juice can be a powerful addition to your diet but if you’re on
any medications ask your doctor if there are any risks with your medication and
grapefruit juice.
Grains
Quinoa: A staple grain native to South America, it cooks up exactly like rice. This tasty
grain has all the essential amino acids making it a complete protein. A great amount of
fiber and minerals including manganese make this an ideal source for carbohydrates to
include in your WWD. Not only is it easy to cook, it absorbs flavors well and
compliments almost any main course. I haven’t heard of anyone being allergic.
Wild Rice/Brown Rice: Organic, whole-grain rice is also an excellent source of high
quality carbohydrates. A good amount of fiber, amino acids and minerals like quinoa
and very few if any food allergies.
Whole Grain Oats: Important not to confuse with instant oats which have been refined.
Whole grain oats have a great amount of fiber, amino acids, some vitamins and
minerals. Science is also finding out they also have a high amount of micro-nutrients,
anti-oxidants and phytochemicals.
Legumes
Basically, beans and peas(and peanuts apparently), these are some of the best foods
that you can add to your WWD to get lots of fiber, amino acids and quality
carbohydrates. They have a nice amount of vitamins and a great variety of minerals.
Soy has all the essential amino acids making it a complete protein. The science is clear
with soy. It actually inhibits cancer and is very healthy for you. However, much of the
soy produced is GM (Genetically Modified) soy.
Research is being done that shows GM foods can have adverse effects on our
reproductive organs and other scary evidence is starting to mount. With soy (possibly
more than any other food) it’s so important to eat organic soy products. If soy is labeled
organic, it isn’t GM. Additionally, many soy products are processed with chemicals,
while organic soy products are free of these chemical additives. So, soy can be very
healthy for you if you consume it correctly.
Peas and beans like garbanzo, black and kidney can be very filling and have a ton of
nutrients to satisfy your appetite. I love adding beans to the fresh soups that will be part
of the WWD.
Seeds
Hemp seeds: This is another complete protein plant food that also has healthy Omega
fats, fiber and minerals. They can contain up to 50% protein by weight and are a
valuable addition to soups, smoothies and breakfast oats or cereal.
Chia seeds: High in protein, fiber and especially Omega-3 fatty acids, these little
wonder seeds can actually absorb 9 times their weight in water! That makes them fun
and functional to cook with. The abundance of anti-oxidants makes their Omega fat
more stable than that of the main stream flax seed.
Flax seed: The flax seed has many nutritional benefits including Omega 3s. A great
source of fiber, protein and hormone balancing lignans makes flax a super seed that will
help you get healthy and lean.
Fungi
Mushrooms have some amazing health benefits. They can help strengthen the immune
system, aid your body in resisting tumor growth and lower cholesterol. Reishi and
Shiitake mushrooms are traditionally the two most popular medicinal mushrooms.
Reishi is the crown jewel of mushrooms and is classified as a true adaptogen which
means that it helps to restore your body to normal functioning, “adapting” to the
environment around it. Conventional mushrooms you buy at the store can also be great
for your health, helping to balance the production of estrogen which is beneficial in
cancer prevention. Mushrooms can absolutely be considered a super food for these
reasons. Their health promoting nutrients are often most accessible when they are
cooked, unlike many other plants which are most effective raw.
Nuts
I won’t spend much time on nuts. Don’t get me wrong, nuts are healthy for you. I
haven’t really come across any “super nuts” on my health quest. They have beneficial
fats, amino acids and minerals in them. In fact, I snack on a handful of nuts everyday
for the most part. With the WWD you need to be monitoring your fat intake (we’ll talk
about that in the next few pages) because it will drop way below what you’re probably
used to. Nuts are high in fat, although healthy fat, and will be limited during the period
of trying to lose weight and detoxify.
Super foods. You may have a better idea of how they are defined or a new found
respect for some of the foods mentioned. The bottom line is that plants in their
unprocessed state are super in and of themselves. Even if you never picked up a
“super food” and just ate raw plants, you could still realize many of the nutritional health
benefits like lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, increased energy and vitality and
much much more. Super foods are like Christmas presents to a child. You can never
have enough and the more you have the better you feel.
I’ve spent all this time on macro and micro-nutrients to paint the best picture possible of
why it is so important to eat plants. Fruits tend to be excellent sources of Vitamins A
and C while giving us soluble fiber. Berries seem to be the most nutrient dense of all
fruits with nature packing more punch into the smallest of packages. Green leafy
vegetables are the best sources of plant sterols and chlorophyll while supplying many
trace minerals. Vegetables provide us with valuable minerals, insoluble fiber and
vitamins too.
Grains tend to be excellent sources for amino acids, fiber and quality carbohydrates for
our body to run on. Something to keep in mind is to look for “sprouted” grain and seed
products. When a grain is sprouted, enzymes are activated and new amino acids are
formed. Generally, a sprouted grain or seed is much easier for your body to digest and
assimilate the nutrients from. Seeds are also excellent sources of fiber, minerals,
omega fatty acids and amino acids. Legumes are great sources for minerals, fiber and
protein. Lastly, the fungi although they were gross to us as kids, are some of the most
effective toxin eliminators in all of nature.
I hope you can see now that what kind of food we eat has a direct result on how we look
and feel. If we give our body plenty of the nutrients it wants and needs by eating real,
unprocessed food it will reward us with good health. Remember, nature is an orchestra,
foods are the instruments and our body is the conductor making beautiful music. Take
away some of the instruments and you’ll sound like crap!