July 16, 2014

5 Delicious Summer Superfoods You Should Be Eating Now

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

Summer brings around lots of fresh, healthy and delicious fruits and vegetables. When you’re picking out your healthy salad ingredients from your garden, farmer’s market or local food store, keep these five major summer superfoods in mind – they pack the top health benefits of everything on the stand!

Tomatoes

Fresh tomatoes are high in antioxidant power because of their high concentration of Lycopene. Lycopene helps reduce the risk of breast, colon, prostate and many other types of cancer with its protective benefits. Research shows that cooking tomatoes helps to concentrates the lycopene – eat tomato-based sauces and stews for maximum health benefits.

Avocados

Both the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association recommend avocados as part of a heart-healthy diet. Avocados lower bad cholesterol, raise good cholesterol, and protect the arteries. This leads to a proven reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.

Grapes

All types of grapes are recommended by health professionals for their great benefits. Grapes are a late summer fruit with various compounds to curb the effects of aging, reduce the risk of cancer, and fight off almost every age-related disease. All types of grapes are beneficial, but red wine grapes are the major source of the well-known and widely studied anti-aging compound called resveratrol. Resveratrol has been shown in several studies to reduce the risk of cancer as well as aid in weight loss.

Mangoes

Mangoes are sweet, tasty and extremely high in the vision-protecting Vitamin A (note their bright orange color). They have excellent immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory benefits, and they also contain potassium, magnesium, copper, B-Vitamins, and dietary fibers.

Berries

All varieties of berries have been known to have major health benefits. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries help boost immunity, reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, and help prevent seasonal allergies. Blueberries are well-known cancer fighters, and a June 2014 publication of Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy noted a component of black raspberries that curbed the growth of tumor cells. Strawberries provide a chemical called fisetin that’s been shown in recent research to have a great effect in reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.