Cantaloupe -
Healing Properties:
Lowers/prevents high blood pressure with potassium and vitamins.
Nutrition:
- 60 calories in a cup of cubes.
- 100% RDI of vitamins A and C in half of a cantaloupe.
Blueberries -
Healing Properties:
Promotes brain health by improving learning and memory.
Nutrition:
- 83 calories in a cup.
- PACKED with antioxidants, vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.
Grapefruit -
Healing Properties:
Fights/prevents cancers and aids in immunity.
Nutrition:
- 52 calories in 1/2 a fruit.
- A major source of vitamins A and B5, potassium, folate, fiber, and cancer-fighting lycopene.
Tomatoes -
Healing Properties:
Fights/prevents cancers and aids in immunity.
Nutrition:
- 23 calories in one fruit.
- A primary source of the cancer-fighting lycopene and vitamins A and C.
Spinach -
Healing Properties:
Spinach is an overall powerhouse. It fights cancer and heart disease. It is rich in folate which is an essential part of diet for women of child-bearing age. It promotes eyesight and is an alkaline producing food, which regulates body pH.
Nutrition:
- 7 calories in a cup.
- Spinach provides 200% your daily requirement for vitamins A and K. It is an excellent source of carotenes, vitamin C, folic acid, manganese, magnesium, iron, and vitamins B1, B2, B6, and E.
Red Bell Pepper -
Healing Properties:
All varieties of bell peppers - red, orange, yellow, green - contain nutrients that help battle heart disease and cataracts; but a red bell pepper has twice as much vitamin C as the others and a healthy dose of beta-carotene. Beta-Carotene helps prevent night blindness and other eye problems, skin disorders, enhance immunity, protects against toxins and cancer formations, colds, flu, and infections. It is an antioxidant and protector of the cells while slowing the aging process.
Nutrition:
- 20 calories in one pepper.
- 158% of your daily requirement for vitamin C in one half cup.
Walnuts -
Healing Properties:
When it comes to rejuvenating brain functions for the elderly, there's hardly any better thing than walnuts. Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids that vastly improve the functioning of the brain cells, walnuts are must as an anti-aging ingredient to improve memory, relieve depression and improve cognitive functions.
The walnut is an excellent source of bio-available melatonin and can vastly improve sleep in people, both in terms of quality and hours of sleep. Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant that makes walnuts an excellent source to check cellular decay that happens due to free radical hits. Studies have shown that eating walnuts regularly considerably minimizes risk of many life-threatening diseases that develop from cellular decay and improves bone health. Just four walnuts a day, and you can enjoy a longer, happier and younger life, the simplest possible way.
Nutrition:
- 200 calories in 1/4 cup.
- 100% of your daily requirement for Omega-3s in just three walnuts. Now you can save a ton of money on supplements and just buy some naturally whole, in-shell walnuts that your body can digest much easier!
Black Beans -
Healing Properties:
They can help lower bad cholesterol (LDL) by as much as 24% because they contain a rich amount of soluble fiber. This fiber balances blood sugar levels even in diabetics so that it reduces the need for insulin. Black beans will satisfy any hunger pangs thereby making them a great source for burning calories. They prevent constipation because they contain insoluble fiber. Some digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulosis can be cured by this fiber.
Nutrition: - 70 calories in 1/2 cup.
- Excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids (at least three times the amount of regular beans and equal to about one ounce of a cold water fish). Packed with nutrients such as manganese, folate, vitamin B1, phosphorus, fiber, and magnesium. Black beans are also a great source for iron.
In Closing:
The other great thing about these eight foods is that with the exception of black beans, you can easily find them all in their natural unprocessed form at most any grocery store. Even if you buy black beans in their dehydrated, bagged form, they are still processed because that is not that natural state. Remember, you just have to be aware of what you eat. Also, I am referring to these foods in their natural state, but you can always make a few shortcuts here and there like pre-washed, bagged spinach or raw, unflavored walnuts that are already shelled. Remember to simply be aware.
Great Quotes to Remember and Empower:
"I eat as if my life depends on it." - Suzanne Somers
"You are what you eat." - Anonymous
