30 Power foods: slow aging, prevent disease and boost immunity

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30 Power foods: these foods can help you slow aging, prevent disease, and boost immunity. They are the essentials of a mighty diet - Consumer guide: how to be an educated consumer - Cover Story
Natural Health , March, 2003 by Daphna Caperonis Cox
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THE RIGHT FOODS CAN GIVE you a great body--one that resists aging, fights heart disease and cancer, has a strong immune system, and possesses plenty of pep. "More than anything else you do, the way you eat tells your body how healthy you want to be," says Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., a physician in Tucson, Ariz., and author of Food As Medicine (Pocket Books, 2003). Each year, more studies prove that the food you choose dictates your health.

To help you create the healthiest diet possible, we bring you the following 30 power foods. We chose them after consulting nutrition experts and hundreds of recent studies. All of our winners fight disease (see "How Power Foods Keep You Healthy," next page) and provide high concentrations of the nutrients you need to feel great. The best way to make these stars work for you, say researchers, is to include as many as possible in your daily diet rather than focusing on just one or two. See how many you can include in your next meal.

1 Almonds If you feel like snacking on nuts, you can't go wrong with almonds. Two ounces, or about 48 almonds, give you more than 50 percent of your daily requirement of magnesium, a mineral that's important for heart health. Almonds are also a good source of vitamin E, fiber, and monounsaturated fat, all heart-healthy nutrients. Last year, a small study published in Circulation found that after eating about 2 1/2 ounces of almonds a day for one month, participants had significantly reduced their total cholesterol and lowered several other risk factors for heart disease as well.

A recent animal study suggested that eating almonds may also reduce the risk of colon cancer.

2 Apples An apple a day may keep the cardiologist at bay. Epidemiological evidence suggests that regularly eating apples reduces the risk of stroke and chances of dying from a heart attack. Apples lowered total cholesterol and triglycerides in a recent animal study. It's not clear which compounds are responsible, although antioxidant flavonoids and fiber are possibilities. (Antioxidants disarm free radicals, unstable disease-causing molecules.) Although whole apples have more fiber than juice, both forms probably benefit your heart. In a small clinical trial, researchers from the University of California at Davis found that drinking 12 ounces of apple juice daily was more effective than eating two apples a day at reducing oxidation of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, a heart disease risk factor.

Apples are the best fruit source of catechins, potent cancer-preventive substances. In fact, eating apples appears to decrease the risk of lung cancer, according to an epidemiological study from the Netherlands that was published in 2001. Apples also provide quercetin, which may inhibit prostate, lung, and liver cancer.

3 Avocados Some people call avocados nature's butter, and you'd be smart to spread this fruit on your toast. Avocados have about a quarter of the calories and total fat of dairy butter, by weight. And ounce for ounce, they provide more heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, and potassium than other fruits. Additionally, avocados are the number-one fruit source of beta-sitosterol, a substance that lowers total cholesterol.

Avocados also exceed other fruits as a source of the potent antioxidant lutein, according to Susan Bowerman, R.D., a registered dietitian at the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Human Nutrition. Lutein protects your eyes from cataracts and from age-related macular degeneration. Lutein may also safeguard your cardiovascular system from atherosclerosis (or hardening of the arteries) and prevent prostate cancer.

4 Beets The sweet taste of beets belies their calorie content--a small one has only 22 calories. Beets are also a great source of folic acid, an important B vitamin that protects against heart disease and cancer.

Antioxidants recently discovered in beets show promise for preventing heart disease, although research is preliminary. Betanin, one of these antioxidants, inhibited oxidation of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, according to a study published in 2001 in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry. This effect was shown in a test tube, but the researchers also found that people were able to absorb the antioxidants by consuming beet juice.

Beets deserve praise for one more reason: Eating them significantly slowed the growth of skin and lung tumors, according to a recent animal study.

5 Blueberries Despite their small size, blueberries are one of the most potent antidotes to oxidative stress, a process that ages you. The red pigments, or anthocyanins, in blueberries appear to be responsible, according to a study released last year by Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

Blueberries help your brain maintain its ability to produce dopamine, a chemical that is crucial for memory, coordination, and feelings of well-being, but that declines as you age, says physician Khalsa. Recently Tufts researchers found that feeding aged rats the equivalent of 1/2 cup blueberries daily actually reversed declining memory and poor coordination.

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