Superfood hit list
Wonderfoods
Looking for some inspiration when it comes to healthy eating? Check out our ultimate wonder food list and see the amazing benefits of Mother Nature’s foods.
Oranges
Oranges are hailed as a great immune system booster, as well as a great fruit to protect your heart and strengthen respiration. The fruit’s betacaroten protects our cells from being damaged and the folic Acid aids proper brain development.
Apples
Apples help protect your heart and improve lung capacity. They are also a great source of fibre so help prevent constipation.
Apricots
Apricots can help control your blood pressure and keep eyes healthy. They have also been found to shield against Alzheimer’s disease.
Artichokes
This vegetable helps your digestive system work to its full potential and works to stabilise your blood sugar levels.
Avocado
Packed with lots of good fats, avacados are great for keeping skin supple. They also help lower cholesterol and as a result can prevent strokes.
Banana
This fruit is packed with nutrients and keeps bones healthy. It’s a great tool to quieten irritating coughs too.
Beans
Beans offer the body a great source of fibre. They will keep bowels healthy and prevent haemorrhoids.
Beetroot
An Aussie favourite, beetroots are believed to aid weight lose as well as controlling blood pressure.
Blueberries
Blueberries are packed with anti-oxidants so fight of the free-radicals that age us. Eating these tiny berries is also believed to boost memory too.
Broccoli
Broccoli has been linked to low cancer rates. Like other dark leafy veg, it contains important phytochemicals that keep illness at bay.
Cabbage
Cabbage contains lots of phytonutrients that work to protect the body from free radicals that can damage the cell membranes. The red varieties contain anthocyanin (red pigment) that is a strong anti-oxidant that can help protect brain cells, thus can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
Canteloupe
Also known as rockmelon, this orange-flesh melon is a great source of vitamin C. Two slices of cantaloupe amounts to only 56 calories, but provides 103 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A. Both vitamin A and beta-carotene, also in cantaloupe, are important for maintain good vision.
Carrots
Carrots are an excellent source of anti-oxidant compounds, and the richest vegetable source of the pro-vitamin. These properties help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer as well as promoting good vision.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower may not be everyone’s favourite veg but it has compounds that are believed to stop enzymes from activating cancer-causing agents in the body as well as increasing the activity of enzymes that disable and eliminate carcinogens
Cherries
Cherries have a rising status as one of the top superfruits due to emerging evidence links cherries to many important health benefits from helping to ease the pain of arthritis and gout, to reducing risk factors for heart disease certain cancers. The tasty fruit have also have been found to help prevent memory loss and delay the aging process.
Chilli peppers
Red chilli peppers have been shown to reduce blood cholesterol, while increasing the body’s ability to dissolve fibrin, a substance that can form blood clots. They are also a natural pain reliever and are now a recognised treatment option for osteoarthritis pain.
Figs
Figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. they are also a good source of dietary fibre which can have a positive effect on weight management.
Fish
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish promote healthy vision, shiny hair and radiant skin. Eating fish has also been shown to help the brain development in infants and decrease the risk of delivering a low-birth-weight baby.
Garlic
Numerous studies have shown the benefits regularly eating garlic has on blood pressure. As a result the bulb is thought to reduce heart disease, as well as reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Grapefruit
Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C, a vitamin that helps to support the immune system. The rich pink and red varieties contain the phytonutrient lycopene that has an anti-tumour activity to protect against cancers.
Grapes
Grapes contain beneficial compounds called flavonoids. These flavonoids appear to decrease the risk of heart disease by reducing platelet clumping and harmful blood clots and preventing free-radical damage.
Green tea
Green tea is a wonderful anti-oxidant with the power to destroy malignant cancer cells. Studies have also shown that sipping the tea can aid digestion and as a result help weight loss.
Honey
Honey is a natural source of carbohydrates which provide strength and energy to our bodies. The sweet substance is known for its effectiveness in reducing fatigue and it is a powerful immune system booster.
Mangoes
The mango is a rich source of beta-carotene, which the body can convert to vitamin A. The fruit is thought to bring about a reduced risk of colon and cervical cancer.
Mushrooms
Phytonutrients found in mushrooms have been found to have anti-cancer properties. The tasty fungi are also believed to lower cholesterol and control blood pressure.
Oats
Oats, via their high fibre content, help remove cholesterol from the digestive system that would otherwise end up in the bloodstream. They also have anti-oxidant compounds that reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and slowdown skin aging.
Olive oil
Olive oil is one of nature’s wonders with the ability to reduce blood pressure and inhibited the growth of some cancers. It is also believed to lessen the severity of asthma and arthritis.
Onions
Onions, like garlic, have been shown to lower high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, both of which help prevent diabetic heart disease, and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Peaches
Peaches and nectarines are good sources of lycopene and lutein. These phytochemicals are especially beneficial in the prevention of heart disease, macular degeneration, and cancer. The fruit also has a gentle laxative effect so prevents constipation.
Peanuts
Peanuts are a very good source of monounsaturated fats, the type of fat that is emphasised in the Mediterranean diet which promotes a healthy heart. With lots of anti-oxidants too, peanuts are a great anti-ageing choice.
Pineapple
One of the many benefits of pineapple is that it helps to build healthy bones. Pineapples are rich in manganese, a trace mineral that is needed for your body to build bone and connective tissues. It is also a rich vitamin C source to boost the immune system.
Brown rice
Brown rice as an excellent source of the mineral selenium. Selenium has been shown to induce DNA repair and synthesis in damaged cells and to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells. It’s full of fibre too so keeps your digestive system happy.
Strawberries
Strawberries, like other berries, are famous in the phytonutrient world as a rich source of phenols. Strawberries’ unique phenol content makes them a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit, all rolled into one.
Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are full of beta-carotene so can fight chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease, as well as disease related to inflammation, such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This starchy vegetable can keep you feeling full for hours but are completely fat-free.
Tomatoes
Tomato contain lycopene (the red pigment), this pigment is a powerful anti-oxidant that has been shown to help protect not only against prostate, but breast, pancreatic and intestinal cancers.
Walnuts
This delicious nut is an excellent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, a special type of protective fat the body cannot manufacture and adding them to your diet can be an important step in improving your cardiovascular health. They are often referred to as ‘brain food’, not only because of the wrinkled brain-like appearance of their shells, but because of the high concentration of omega-3 fats that boosts concentration.
Watermelon
Watermelon is rich in potassium, a nutrient that may help control blood pressure, regulate heart beat, and possibly prevent strokes. It is a great thirst quencher too and it contains barely any kilojoules so an ideal snack for weight watchers.
