What makes a food a "super" food? For a food to be listed as a super food, it has to be high in vitamins as well as other nutrients. Those nutrients should allow the food to provide great health benefits such as protection from heart disease or cancer as well as being helpful with increasing fiber intake and for weight loss. Since there are literally dozens of foods that are so qualified, it is impossible to add every super food to the diet. That gives you the ability to pick and choose the foods that you like the best as well as the one that best fit into your diet plan and your lifestyle.
On most of the lists, the super foods are fruits, vegetables and nuts, but there are a few animal products that make the cut as well. Some of them are kind of shocking because they might seem to be higher in calories and fat- but before they are discounted, the type of fat should be considered first. Monounsaturated fatty acids, also known as MUFAs are important because they may help reduce belly fat as well as providing other nutrients that are incredibly beneficial as well. Avocado, a great source of MUFAs are also high in protein, plant sterols, folic acid and magnesium. They are also great sources of vitamins, too.
The super foods also have another thing in common: nearly all of them are preferred in their most natural state, usually the wild variety. Wild Alaskan salmon and wild blueberries are two examples of this. Both are very beneficial for obviously very different reasons but both are at their most healthy when they are "wild". For the salmon, wild varieties minimize the amount of harmful chemicals, especially mercury, that is contained in the thick flesh. Technically, all berries, including commercially cultivated types will make it onto a listing of super foods, but the wild varieties are the best.
Foods that increase your daily intake of fiber are also high on the list of super foods. Steel cut oats, which are the highest in fiber among the oat varieties will help near the recommended 25-30 grams of fiber that women should be getting. Beans are another great source of fiber in the diet and provide antioxidants, protein and folic acid as well. Beans may also help with weight loss efforts as well not only because they are filling but because they may bind with starches to prevent them from being absorbed.
Super foods are super because they are healthy and nutritious, not because they have magic power. They still have calories that need to be counted. But, as part of an overall healthy diet, they can be just exactly what the doctor ordered.
Originally posted on: http://www.streetarticles.com/low-calorie/the-top-super-foods-for-women
On most of the lists, the super foods are fruits, vegetables and nuts, but there are a few animal products that make the cut as well. Some of them are kind of shocking because they might seem to be higher in calories and fat- but before they are discounted, the type of fat should be considered first. Monounsaturated fatty acids, also known as MUFAs are important because they may help reduce belly fat as well as providing other nutrients that are incredibly beneficial as well. Avocado, a great source of MUFAs are also high in protein, plant sterols, folic acid and magnesium. They are also great sources of vitamins, too.
The super foods also have another thing in common: nearly all of them are preferred in their most natural state, usually the wild variety. Wild Alaskan salmon and wild blueberries are two examples of this. Both are very beneficial for obviously very different reasons but both are at their most healthy when they are "wild". For the salmon, wild varieties minimize the amount of harmful chemicals, especially mercury, that is contained in the thick flesh. Technically, all berries, including commercially cultivated types will make it onto a listing of super foods, but the wild varieties are the best.
Foods that increase your daily intake of fiber are also high on the list of super foods. Steel cut oats, which are the highest in fiber among the oat varieties will help near the recommended 25-30 grams of fiber that women should be getting. Beans are another great source of fiber in the diet and provide antioxidants, protein and folic acid as well. Beans may also help with weight loss efforts as well not only because they are filling but because they may bind with starches to prevent them from being absorbed.
Super foods are super because they are healthy and nutritious, not because they have magic power. They still have calories that need to be counted. But, as part of an overall healthy diet, they can be just exactly what the doctor ordered.
Originally posted on: http://www.streetarticles.com/low-calorie/the-top-super-foods-for-women
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