A Health Secret Worth Knowing.
A famous nutritonist once said we dig our graves with our teeth. I say, you determine you level of health and vitality with your food choices, which means you can improve your health by making healthier food choices.
According to the National Institutes of Health, most of the worst diseases known to man are “diseases of environment”, which simply means, we do it to ourselves with our diet, nutrition and lifestyle choices.
In other words, the world’s best experts say that for most diseases, most of the time, including heart disease, diabetes and about half of all cancer; different diet, nutrition and lifestyle choices may have prevented the disease from every developing.
Replacing less-healthy foods with healthy foods in no way guarantees robust health, but replacing nutritionally empty food with healthy foods, and taking care of yourself, puts you in a much lower risk category for all serious illness and disease and will make you look and feel better than ever in a short time.
My private weight loss clients, and people following my 5 Steps Program, almost universally report higher energy and a greater sense of well being simply by making a few simple changes in what they eat.
So which foods are the best? Which ones should you include in your diet as often as possible? How do you pick a healthy food? Let’s take a look.
Criteria For MakingThe Best & Healthiest Foods List
The Best & Healthiest Foods Are Naturally Nutrient Dense – These foods are nutrient dense and contain naturally high amounts of many of the essential nutrients needed for optimal health, including; vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, fiber and more.
The Best & Healthiest Foods are Whole Foods - The foods are also whole foods, naturally high nutritional content that have not been highly processed and contain no synthetic, artificial, or irradiated ingredients.
The Best & Healthiest Foods are Familiar, Readily Available And Affordable - These are everyday foods; including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, lean meats, fish, olive oil, and herbs and spices familiar to most and that fit easily within the food budget of most people.
The World’s Healthiest Foods Taste Good – In fact, they are world’s best tasting foods on earth with no close seconds.
I selected several foods from 5 categories. Each food is loaded with nutrients and gives you more good nutrition per bite than most other foods.
In future posts I’ll highlight each food and go into detail as to why that particular food is so good, but for now suffice it to say, each food on this list is LOADED with nutrition your body can use to help you get healthy, stay healthy and feel great!
Note: Thear are many other excellent foods in each category.
HEALTHIEST & BEST FRUITS & BERRIES – Apples, bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, kiwi and grapefruit.
These foods are naturally high in nutrients that promote heart health, protect your eyes, protect your from cancer and support health in a variety of ways,
HEALTHIEST & BEST VEGETABLES (or foods recognized as vegetables) – bell pepper, avocado, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cucumber, celery, romaine lettuce.
These are ALL EXCELLENT and together they make a GREAT SALAD full of vitamins and heart-healthy, blood pressure lowering, cancer protective nutrients.
Remember, "Vegetables Rule!", nutritionally speaking of course.
HEALTHIEST & BEST SEEDS & NUTS – almonds, flax seed and flax seed oil, olive oil, cashews, walnuts.
Seeds and nuts are loaded with heart healthy, blood pressure lowering nutrients that help maintain normal blood sugar, keep your hunger low, your energy high, and promote weight loss in overweight individuals.
HEALTHIEST & BEST BEANS: Black beans, kidney, lentils, navy beans, pinto beans – all EXCELLENT source of minerals and heart-protective, cholesterol-lowering fiber.
Beans are so good for you they come close to qualifying as a Nutritional Miracle. Imagine, solid gold nutrition for the price of a bowl of beans!
HEALTHIEST & BEST FISH: salmon, cold water fish including halibut, cod, and sardines from cold-water regions. The healthy omega 3 essentilal fatty acids in cold water fish are extremely good for you.
HEALTHIEST & MEATS & POULTRY: Organic lean beef, hormone-free chicken, lamb, turkey. Always choose leaner cuts of meat.
The highly bio-available amino acids you get in a small serving of meat help maintain muscle structure and provide the nutritional raw material your immune system needs to protect you from illness and disease and keep you healthy.
You could pick and choose foods off this list and enjoy them for years.
Health Is A Choice Only You Can Make For Yourself
Eating junky food leads to junky health. Eating healthy food leads to good health. (So what’s for dinner?)
Replace high-sugar, high carbohydrate and junk food with foods off this list and you; 1) will NOT be overweight, and; 2) will in all probability enjoy robust health and; 3) probably never suffer with a major illness or disease.
Written by Dr. Russell J. Martino, Ph.DThe Voice Of Health
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
This morning I saw your segment on Great Day Houston. I’ve never been a big veggie eater. It was great to find out the veggies I do eat are actually good for me. I had been told in the past carrots break down to sugar and celery is empty calories so don’t eat those vegetables.
Thank you for making eating simple.