Top super foods for your health
Beans

When it comes to nutrition and value for money, beans get an A-plus. They’re high in B vitamins and fiber, and all for just pennies a serving. They’re also easy to add to everyday dishes. Plus, with so much variety, you’ll never get bored. Try adding them to soups and stews and using less meat. Also, you can make bean burritos, tacos, and even bean dips.

Blueberries

With all the positive press blueberries are receiving, it’s hard to overlook that these little berries contain more disease-fighting antioxidants than most other foods. And they’re not hard to like. You can freeze them and eat them frozen as a snack, add them to your morning cereal, blend them into a smoothie, or even add them to your muffins, pancakes and waffles.

Broccoli

OK, now this one does remind me of the dark green cabbage, but it really is good for you. It’s great for your immune system and supports cardiovascular health. Some people can tolerate eating it raw by combining it with a dip. But if that’s a bit too much for you, you can use chopped broccoli in casseroles and soups and not even realize it’s in there.

Oats

Oats are low in fat and an excellent source of fiber. If a bowl of oatmeal doesn’t appeal to you, try adding oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs next time you make a meatloaf, or use it as a topping along with nuts for fruit desserts. And, yes, there’s always the oatmeal cookie.

Walnuts
I always use toasted walnuts for recipes like fruit cobblers, crumbles, and when I make homemade pesto sauce. You can also add them to muffins, or sprinkle toasted ones on your salad.

For more info:
Some more top super foods

Super foods that burn fat
Best super foods

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Nuts and healthy eating

Nut is the first three letters in the word “nutrition.”

And simple snacking with almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and peanuts, as well other nuts, is considered healthy eating these days.

Paula Chicoine of Parker is a nut-lover and sees the health benefits.

She started a diet heavy in almonds, walnuts, pecans and filberts (also known as hazelnuts) about six years ago.

“I read a book about intestinal health, and that got me started,” says Chicoine, 60.

“Now I have them with every meal.

“We both have fixed our cholesterol with exercise,” she says.

Nuts may help eliminate bad cholesterol, when eaten as part of a healthy diet, and also can be helpful for people battling high blood pressure or diabetes tendencies, health reports have shown.

Joanne Shearer, team leader for food and nutrition services at Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota, says more people are trying what the Chicoines have done.

“There have been many studies, and they now prove that one ounce per day, which is about a handful of nuts, will lower your chances of cardiovascular disease by 30 percent,” says Shearer.

“Thirty years ago, people were eliminating nuts from their diet, because they are fatty.

Almonds are considered the most nutritious, but even peanuts are better than an indulgent snack.

“Certain nuts contain fitochemicals that still have undiscovered benefits,” Shearer says.

“Peanuts are not as good as walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and pecans, but they are certainly better than opening a bag of chips.”

John Bergin owns and operates the Bergin Fruit and Nut Co. based in St. Paul, Minn., and says as a protein source, nuts are hard to top.

His nuts are distributed in local stores.

“I used to do a presentation for third-grade students, and I had a buddy dress in a gorilla suit,” he says.

“It was a way to show the students that such a strong animal can get all the protein they need without eating meat.”

Almonds are high in Vitamin E, and pack serious long-term energy.

“Bikers and hikers know how good they are for them,” Bergin says.

“Pecans are the No. 1 antioxidant nut meat out there.”

Most nuts contain high levels of monounsaturated fats – the good fats – also found in olive and canola oils and plentiful in Mediterranean diets.

Chicoine says she feels more energetic since going to nuts as a staple.

“I started with raw nuts and would roast them at home,” she says.

“Sometimes I buy roasted because I want that tiny bit of salt.”

When it comes to salt, even peanuts are not horrible, Shearer says.

But not all nuts are created equally.

Flavored almonds, especially those infused with a smoked flavor, can have as much as 180 milligrams of salt per serving, so keep an eye on labels.

Bulk nut bins are one of the hot spots at Co-op Natural Foods, 2504 S. Duluth Ave., says employee Deb Storey.

Bergin, who sells many of his products in bulk, says like cereal boxes, buying bulk can save money and time for everyone.

“The mixes and bulk nuts we sell, one bag is about twice as much in volume as you’d get in a package or can,” he says.

Beyond almonds, Shearer says walnuts and pistachios are found to promote pliability and elasticity in blood vessels.

“Nuts really are super-foods, and the pack so much nutrition into a small package,” she says.

Talk about a health nut (The Argus Leader)

Nut is the first three letters in the word “nutrition.” And simple snacking with almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and peanuts, as well other nuts, is considered healthy eating these days.

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