Tomatoes to a Healthy Diet

The health benefits of tomatoes are well known, and tomatoes are known to contain a great many important compounds that play an important role in the prevention of cancer, heart disease, cataracts and many other common health problems. Tomatoes are rich sources of many important nutrients, and more and more people are coming to realize just how important tomatoes are to a healthy diet.

Tomatoes and vitamin C

For instance, tomatoes contain as much vitamin C as many citrus fruits, with a normal sized tomato providing up to 40 percent of the recommended daily intake of this important nutrient. In addition, tomatoes contain large amounts of vitamin A, potassium and iron. And tomatoes are one of the most delicious, and most versatile of all foods. From fresh tomatoes in your salad to ketchup on your burger, tomatoes are everywhere, and this makes it quite easy to enjoy their many health benefits.

In a way, it is their rich color that makes tomatoes so valuable to a healthy diet. The substance responsible for the red coloration of tomatoes is known scientifically as lycopene. This important compound is thought to be a strong antioxidant, with the ability to neutralize the free radicals that can cause damage to cells. These free radicals are thought to play a role in cancer, and therefore tomatoes are thought to be important in the prevention of many kinds of cancer.

As a matter of fact, lycopene is thought to be twice as effective as many other kinds of antioxidants, and it has been shown to play a role in the prevention of such common cancers as prostate cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer. In addition, lycopene is thought to help to inhibit the aging process, allowing tomato eaters to remain active longer.

How to choose the best tomatoes

To get the greatest amount of benefits from tomatoes it is important to choose them carefully. The ripest and reddest tomatoes not only contain the highest amounts of lycopene, but they also are thought to contain the greatest amount of beta carotene, another vital nutrient.

Tomatoes are healthy when eaten raw, but they are also one of those rare foods whose nutritional value is actually enhanced by the cooking process. The valuable lycopene is contained in the cell wall of the tomato, and therefore cooking it in a bit of healthy oil will help to more fully release this important nutrient. In addition, cooking the tomato in a healthy oil like olive oil will help the body to better absorb the lycopene in the tomato.

While it is important to choose the richest, reddest tomatoes to enjoy their many health benefits, it is not necessary to always buy your tomatoes fresh. While fresh tomatoes are often better tasting, tomatoes are one of those fruits that ship very well, and they do not lose any of their vital nutritional value when they are shipped. Tomatoes also retain their nutritional value through the high heat processing they undergo, meaning that tomato sauce, canned tomatoes and stewed tomatoes are all valuable sources of antioxidants and other valuable nutrients.

Tomatoes to a Healthy Diet

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03.10 | 0 comments

Benefits Of The Goji Berry for Anti Aging

The goji berry just may be the most powerful of all anti-aging foods on the market. More and more people are discovering the power of the goji berry, also known as lyceum barb arum.

The History Of The Goji Berry

The goji berry has long enjoyed a privileged place in traditional oriental medicine, and it has been used in traditional Asian medicine for thousands of years. For many in the modern world, however, the goji berry has remained a well kept secret.

Many in traditional medicine have noted that many of the longest living people in the world eat a diet rich in the goji berry, and this tiny red fruit may well be one of the most powerful of all anti-aging foods.

The First Healers

Some of the first healers to recognize the power of the goji berry were the Himalayans. These traditional people shared their knowledge of the goji berry and it healing properties with the herbalists of Tibet , China and India . One of the most highly prized elements of these traditional herbalists were the fruits of the goji vine, which had flourished in the valleys of the Himalayas for thousands of years. Those herbalists took this powerful food back home with them, and they continued to spread the word about the power of the goji berry.

There are many varieties of goji berry, grown in many parts of the world, and as the popularity of this food continues to grow, more and more people are growing the goji berry for profit. The most powerful and nutrient rich goji berries, however, still come from plants grown in the valleys of the Himalaya mountains , so it is important for buyers to understand where there supplements come from.

What Makes The Goji Berry So Special?

The goji berry contains four individual polysaccharides, also known as phytonutrient compounds. These phytonutrient compounds work in the body to direct and carry instructions used by the cells of the body to communicate with one another. These polysaccharides are often referred to by scientists as master molecules, due to their ability to control many important functions of the body and its immune system.

The goji berries grown in the Himalayan valley exhibit a well balanced level of these various polysaccharides, and they have a greater nutrient density than berries grown elsewhere in the world.

There are many ways that the goji berry can be used in a healthy diet, including supplements, juices and the fruits themselves. There are many places to buy goji berries and goji juice as well, from traditional supermarkets to specialty and whole foods retailers. When buying goji berries, however, it is important to purchase them only from top quality suppliers who are as concerned about your good health as you are. It is also important to know where your goji berries or goji juice comes from, since the goji berries grown in the valleys of the Himalayas can be far more nutritious than those grown in other parts of the world. The goji berry is one of the most exciting and useful new food to be discovered by the modern world, showing how the wisdom of the ancient world is once again shedding new light on common health problems.

Goji Berry

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02.17 | 0 comments

Benefit of Red Cabagge and Red Beets

There are many reasons why red cabbage and red beets are such popular foods. Both red cabbage and red beets are delicious, nutritious and low in calories. In addition, the compounds found in red cabbage and red beets are thought to play an important role in the prevention of many forms of cancer.

New research has placed the focus on the benefits of red cabbage and red beets on the many phytochemicals these foods contain, in particular the presence of indole-3-carbinole (I3C0, sulforaphane and indoles. These compounds are thought to play a role in the activation and stabilization of the detoxification and antioxidant processes in the body.

The benefits of red beets and red cabbage

In particular, indole-3-carbinole (I3C) is thought to play a role in reducing the risk of breast cancer, and one small study showed a remarkable 50% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer. These compounds, found abundantly in red cabbage and red beets, are thought to play a role in how estrogen is produced and utilized in the body, and this is thought to play a role in reducing the incidence of breast cancer in those who consume these foods.

In addition to the prevention of breast cancer, red cabbage and red beets are thought to play an important role in the prevention of lung cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer. In addition, red cabbage and red beets are known to be rich sources of vitamin C, an antioxidant which plays a vital role in reducing the presence of free radicals in the body.

In addition, all types of cabbages and related vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts and bok choy, are rich sources of calcium. In addition to calcium, however, red cabbage and red beets are also rich sources of flavonoids. It is these flavonoids which are responsible for the rich purple coloring of both red cabbage and red beets, and it is these flavonoids which give both red cabbage and red beets their strong antioxidant health benefits. As a matter of fact, red cabbage and red beets are among the richest sources of flavonoids in the vegetable world.

Other health benefits

In addition to their possible role as cancer fighters, red cabbage and red beets both are being studied for their possible role in the treatment of peptic ulcers. For many years the juice of the red cabbage has been used as a very effective way to treat peptic ulcers. It is thought that the high concentration of the amino acid known as glutamine is responsible for the ability of red cabbage and red beets to treat this common stomach condition. Glutamine is used to provide nutrients to the cells that line the small intestine and the stomach, and this fact may be responsible for the effectiveness of cabbage juice at treating ulcer conditions.

When shopping for red cabbage, it is a good idea to choose those heads with the richest, reddest leaves, since the compounds that give red cabbage is rich flavor also provide its nutritional benefits. Likewise, those red beets with the richest and heartiest color are thought to provide the greatest nutritional value.

Red Cabagge and Red Beets

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