Salmon
Description:
Salmon is low in calories and saturated fat, yet high in protein, and a unique type of health-promoting fat, the omega-3 essential fatty acids. As their name implies, essential fatty acids are essential for human health but because they cannot be made by the body, they must be obtained from foods. Fish contain a type of essential fatty acid called the omega-3 fatty acids. Wild-caught cold water fish, like salmon, are higher in omega-3 fatty acids than warm water fish.
In fact, the fat composition of salmon has recently been evaluated as superior not only because of its rich omega-3 content, but also because of its great ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s and its health-supportive balance of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. Each of these features in the fat composition of salmon helps reduce risk of unwanted inflammation and help maintain the integrity of our immune and circulatory systems.
In addition to being an excellent source of omega-3s, salmon are an excellent source of selenium, a very good source of protein, niacin and vitamin B12, and a good source of phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin B6.
Soy
Description:
Soy is a complete protein that contains amino acids not provided by the body. Proteins are the “building blocks” of the body, and form all body tissue. Soy supplies protein to the body in the right amounts, and at the right time. Soy is also rich in vitamin B, calcium, and linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids. Since the early ages, the Chinese used Soy to help treat arthritis, blurry vision, burns, dizziness, excessive sweating, headache, long term leg ulcers, poisoning due to drugs, and sore throats.
Recent scientific studies have shown that genistein and isoflavones found in Soy help fight cancer cells. The isoflavones are plant estrogens which act like a weak form of human estrogen, which is stronger than human estrogen, bringing a milder effect and blocking the human estrogen from making contact with cancer forming cells; therefore, it is helpful in protecting the body against prostate, ovarian, cervical, and breast cancer.
Soybean products have been used with success in treating hot flashes that accompany menopause or breast cancer treatment. It is thought that Soy can also slow the progression of osteoporosis. Genistein, which is found in Soy, is an antioxidant and has also been shown to change complex cancer cells into simple, inactive cells which are not a threat to health. Scientific studies have proven Soy to be effective in lowering cholesterol, and the same study in rabbits, showed the drop in cholesterol due to Soy, also prevented arteriosclerosis.
Spinach
Description:
We all know that Popeye made himself super strong by eating spinach, but you may be surprised to learn that he may also have been protecting himself against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, arthritis, and other diseases at the same time. Spinach Carotenoid Combats Prostate Cancer and Ovarian Cancer. A carotenoid found in spinach and other green leafy vegetables fights human prostate cancer two different ways, according to research published in the the Journal of Nutrition.
The carotenoid, called neoxanthin, not only induces prostate cancer cells to self-destruct, but is converted in the intestines into additional compounds, called neochromes, which put prostate cancer cells into a state of stasis, thus preventing their replication. Research calculating flavonoid intake in 66,940 women enrolled in the Nurses Health Study between 1984 and 2002 revealed that women whose diets provided the most kaempferol had a 40% reduction in risk of ovarian cancer, compared to women eating the least kaempferol-rich foods.
In addition to spinach, foods richest in kaempferol include tea (nonherbal), onions, curly kale, leeks, broccoli, and blueberries.
Strawberries
Description:
Strawberries, like other berries, are famous in the phytonutrient world as a rich surce of phenols. In the strawberry, these phenols are led by the anthocyanins (especially anthocyanin 2) and by the ellagitannins. The anthocyanins in strawberry not only provide its flush red color, they also serve as potent antioxidants that have repeatedly been shown to help protect cell structures in the body and to prevent oxygen damage in all of the body's organ systems.
Strawberries' unique phenol content makes them a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit, all rolled into one. The anti-inflammatory properties of strawberry include the ability of phenols in this fruit to lessen activity of the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase, or COX. Non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen block pain by blocking this enzyme, whose overactivity has been shown to contribute to unwanted inflammation, such as that which is involved in rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, and cancer.
Unlike drugs that are COX-inhibitors, however, strawberries do not cause intestinal bleeding.