Healthy Foods and Cacao: Part Two

As was discussed in Healthy Foods and Cacao: Part One, our bodies need raw materials to fight off the side effects of living. Our bodies are, literally, under attack, either by the normal processes of living (oxygen) or the other things we encounter on a daily basis that leave our bodies open to attack (H1N1). What we feed our bodies will either help in the fight or tear it down further.  There are other minerals and nutrients our bodies need to do that work effectively.
It is the sweet potato, not the carrot, that will have the greatest impact on your vision. Sweet potatoes “outpower” carrots. One carrot contains 203% of the daily recommended vitamin a, but a sweet potato weighs in with 262.2% of the daily recommended dose. Sweet potatoes also contain vitamin C and B6 are known to help the body fight off inflammation.
Tomatoes contain vitamin C and vitamin A, but they also contain potassium (8% of the RDA). Tomatoes real punch comes from lycopene, which is present when tomatoes are cooked. Lycopene made headlines because of its impact on prostate cancer, but research has indicated that it may also be beneficial in warding of stomach, colon, breast, and lung cancers. Regardless, tomatoes are incredibly high in antioxidants and should be part of everyone’s diet.
Mom was right about eating your broccoli. As with all the superfoods so far reviewed, broccoli is high in antioxidant vitamins, like A and C, but it is also high in fiber, folic acid and even calcium. Broccoli contains 178 milligrams in one cup. (Milk has 300 in one cup, but also the fat that goes with it and no fiber.)  A diet high in good fiber has been shown to ward off rectal and colon cancers.
Dense in antioxidants, cacao nibs are packed with a whole host of nutrients, making it a great choice for brain health. As discussed in the article Organic Cacao, the Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, in Madrid, Spain, reported that cacao’s “the glucose retardation index of cocoa . . . were similar to other natural commercial insoluble fibres.” In other words, the good fiber in cacao helped keep glucose levels down. The chromium in cacao nips is known to reduce one’s cravings for sugary foods (http://healthyfoodrawdiet.com/cacao/cacao-nibs).  It has also been shown to reduce the platelet levels in the bloodstream, inhibiting the formation of clogged arteries and reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems. While cacao nibs do contain fat, it is important to remember that our bodies need fat to process nutrients.
Salmon is more evidence that not all fats are created equally. The fat in salmon is essential for our bodies, but more so our brains. The omega 3 fatty acids in salmon have no equal. It must be noted that for salmon’s benefits to be maximized, it is critical that one consumes wild catch salmon, as farm raised salmon omega 3 are significantly lower. It is believed that farm-raised salmon does not enjoy the normal diet as salmon out in the wild and does therefore not contain the same benefits. The quality of the meat suffers and the salmon can in fact suffer from more infections and must therefore be treated with antibiotics, leading to a whole host of other issues.
You are what you eat. If you fuel your body with superfoods that are rich in nutrients and good fats, your body will be better able to ward off infection and perform the way in which it was intended. Salmon, cacao nibs, tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes are some of the best foods for fueling our body to fight off expected invaders, like free radicals that lead to oxidization, and unexpected invaders, like cancer cells.