Best Foods List to Plan an Antioxidant Rich Diet Menu with Recipes

Antioxidants are nutrients which slow the damage caused when the cells in our body metabolize oxygen. During this metabolism, molecular bonds can weaken and split, resulting in free radicals, roaming by-products which quickly try to attach themselves to the nearest stable molecule, potentially causing damage.

Free radicals are normal to an extent, sometimes triggered by the body’s own immune system, but the presence of too many free radicals or too few antioxidants, as well as environmental exposures like smoke, herbicides, radiation, and pollution, can all play a role in tipping the balance, resulting in oxidative damage to the cells.

Oxidative damage contributes to a host of diseases. Antioxidants can prevent and repair the damage of free radicals, and may also help build the body’s immune system, as well as reducing the risks of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, cardiovascular conditions, macular degeneration, and cancer.

Many vegetables and fruits contain antioxidants, along with nuts, whole grains, and fish. Even red meat and chicken, both rich in Selenium, contain antioxidants, as do spices such as cloves, cinnamon and oregano.

However, finding the top ten or top twenty antioxidant rich foods is not merely a matter of assessing the total antioxidant capacity of any one particular food. Factors such as digestion and absorption, as well as food preparation can affect the potential benefit of antioxidants.

Following a proven diet such as the Mediterranean diet can be an easy, simple way to work antioxidants into an every day lifestyle. Since the 1940s, studies have consistently shown the health benefits of adapting the traditional diets of the Mediterranean culture.

An antioxidant rich Mediterranean menu might consist of a breakfast of berries and yogurt, with whole grain bread, drizzled with honey. Whole wheat pita bread provides a quick and easy base for both lunch and dinner when paired with Roasted Vegetables or Meatballs with Spanish Sauce. Serve a fruit rich in antioxidants like mangoes, cantaloupe and watermelon, for desert.

Roasted Vegetables
¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. minced garlic
1 t. basil
1 c. olives
1 c. chopped tomatoes
1 c. chopped yellow bell pepper
1 c. chopped green bell pepper
1 c. chopped red onion
¼ c. chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c. crumbled feta cheese (4 oz.)

Mix and spread onto baking sheets.
Bake 450°F for 30 minutes.
Crumble feta on top.

Meatballs with Spanish Sauce
Meatballs:
1 lb. ground beef
½ c. bread crumbs
½ c. minced onion
1 egg
½ c. yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients; shape into balls
Place on baking sheet
Bake 375°F for 15 minutes

Sauce:
¼ c. olive oil
1 diced onion
1 diced green pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1 t. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 piece whole wheat bread, cubed
1 lb. canned tomatoes

Mix and simmer for 30 minutes, using cubed bread to thicken sauce to taste.
Add cooked meatballs; simmer 20 minutes.

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How to Prevent Lower Back Pain? Diet & Foods to Cure Backpain Naturally

Using the Mediterranean Diet to Prevent Back Pain
That title probably threw you for a loop with the suggestion that you can use a diet to correct back pain, but when you get down to it, what we eat really determines a whole lot more than whether we’re going to be fat or thin. Studies have shown that people with poor diets tend to be more prone to depression, more susceptible to disease and infection, they have less energy and they suffer more aches and pains than people who maintain a healthy diet.

The good news is that a back pain diet is going to involve some really great food. The Mediterranean diet isn’t about cutting out all of the great tasting stuff, it’s about simply eating well, and even encourages the intake of wine and cheeses. How many diets can you say that about?

The core idea of the Mediterranean diet is mixing heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory foods with a strong food pyramid to follow. This places grains, potatoes and bread at the bottom of the pyramid, that which you should eat more of, with beans, nuts, legumes and fish largely taking the place of (but not completely replacing) red meats and poultry.

The fact that it helps to cure back pain fast by reducing inflammation was only discovered as something of a bonus alongside the diet’s primary purpose in making the heart healthier.

The diet is essentially just a basic, well balanced mix of foods and fitness, with regular physical activity being a staple of the program.

As an example of what you’ll be eating, take grilled lamb chops. This recipe simply involves first grilling (or pan-searing) some lamb chops until they have a nice color to them, and then baking them in the oven at 375 for thirty minutes or until all pink is gone. Put some buttered green beans on top and have some garlic soup and a glass of red wine on the side.

This simple recipe is more mouth watering than you might expect. The Mediterranean diet wasn’t designed in a lab or at a university, it’s a centuries-old tradition from Mediterranean countries. These are recipes designed through several generations of tradition based on the native ingredients and cooking methods of the Mediterranean.

The result is food that is simply incredible and very effective at keeping one’s weight down, at fighting heart disease and at lower back pain prevention when coupled with some basic exercise now and then.

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Saturday Throwback: Learning to Love the Foods You Hate: A Guide for Frugal Eaters

Every Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. This one is from April 2009.

Up until a few years ago, the list of foods I loathed was a long one. It included, but wasn’t limited to: spaghetti squash, broccoli, asparagus, red cabbage, ginger ale, cauliflower, radishes, lentils, beans, Brussels sprouts, fennel, eggplant, anise, scallops, figs, and of course, the dreaded mayonnaise. The list goes on (and on), but you get the idea: growing up, I wasn’t exactly a daring eater.

I still hate mayo. I will ALWAYS hate mayo. George Clooney could serve me mayo wrapped in chocolate bacon on a gold-plated re-issue of Who’s Next, and I would throw it back in his face. But my opinion’s changed on most of those other foods. These days, I’ll gladly scarf a floret of cauliflower. Brussels sprouts hold a special place on my dinner table. And eggplant? Well, eggplant is my favorite thing ever, aside from the panda song from Sifl and Olly. (In fact, you could say I’m drunk on eggplant mystery.)

Granted, part of it is just me aging. At 31-years-old, my palate’s matured a little, and my tastes now lean more toward savory than sweet. The other part, though, can be directly attributed to recent changes in my lifestyle.

See, a few years ago, I resolved to learn to cook, to eat healthier, and to better manage my money. As it turned out, vegetables and legumes were vital to making this work, since they’re exponentially cheaper than meat and much more nutritious than most starches. So, I had to confront my fears. I had to expand my produce repertoire beyond corn, carrots, corn, and carrots.

These strategies helped. I learned to tolerate, and even love, a lot of foods I had longstanding issues with. Try ‘em for yourself, and please add your own suggestions to the comment section.

Make it unrecognizable.
Case study: Eggplant
Seedy, mushy, and horrifically purple, eggplant appealed to me about as much as a drug-free colonoscopy. Then, in 1997, my friend H hid it in her homemade tomato sauce. And … revelation. Soon, I was on to eggplant dips, eggplant pastas, and finally, plain ol’ broiled eggplant. The trick was getting the image of the vegetable out of my head, and forcing me to associate it with otherwise good food. I suspect it would work beautifully with any vegetable that could be pureed or furtively included in a sauce (butternut squash, bell peppers, etc.).

Use it in a recipe with foods you love.
Case study: Brussels sprouts
As far as I was concerned, Brussels sprouts were tiny, bitter cabbages that masochists ate when they ran out of bigger bitter cabbages. Little did I know that slathering them in Parmesan would provide a delicious gateway into healthier, simpler preparations. See also: Red Cabbage (ew) with Honey (nice), Apples (yay!), and Bacon (king of cured meats). It's actually quite scrumptious.

Try it in an ethnic dish.
Case study: Broccoli
Broccoli: looks like trees, tastes like butt, right? Yeah, I used to think like that, too. But in high school, Ma ordered Chicken and Broccoli from our local Chinese joint, Da How. Suddenly, it was broccoli: looks like trees, tastes like HEAVEN (with garlic and brown sauce). Sometimes, a food is more appealing when its paired with flavors you’re not necessarily accustomed to. Like bean sprouts on top of Pad Thai. Or peas stuffed in a samosa. Or tomatillo sauce spread across an enchilada. Pick a cuisine and start experimenting.

Cook the best-reviewed recipe you can find featuring that food.
Case study: Cauliflower
Most aggregate recipe sites like Epicurious, Food Network, and All Recipes have sophisticated rating systems with which home cooks can evaluate any dish. If you’re feeling ambitious, plug an ingredient into one of their search engines. Then, prep the recipe with the best overall reviews. For example, Ina Garten has a Cauliflower Gratin that’s received an average of five stars from 132 people (which is outstanding). I’ve tried it myself, and without exaggeration, it changed the way I felt about cauliflower. I just … I just didn’t know it could taste that good. Now, stuff like Roasted Garlic Cauliflower and Curried Cauliflower Soup with Honey are making regular appearances in my mouth.

Understand you don’t have to eat it the way your Ma (or Pa) prepared it.
Case study: Spaghetti Squash
Across the country, millions of Irish-Americans loathe vegetables because growing up, produce was boiled beyond recognition and then forced by threat of death into their reluctant maws. But take heart, my freckled brethren! It doesn’t have to be this way. Did you know carrots can be roasted? And broccoli rabe, sauteed? And spaghetti squash, combined with red sauce, mozzarella, and pine nuts to create something COMPLETELY DELICIOUS? It’s true. So, love your Gaelic Ma. Embrace her. Call her often. Just … try to forget her cooking. It’ll make this whole process much easier.

Try a dish with a subtler incarnation of that food.
Case study: Tarragon
This one’s a little difficult to explain, so here’s an example: I despise anise. Even thinking about its black licorice flavor makes my tongue curl. Recently though, I discovered a White Bean and Tarragon Soup that I quite like. Tarragon, like fennel, possesses traits similar to anise, but it’s much, much subtler. In the soup, it was complemented so well by the other ingredients, I didn’t even taste the hate. Maybe I'll feel the same way about anise someday. Think of this principle like salsa: you start out mild, and work your way up to medium and hot varieties.

Give it just one more shot.
Case study: Beans
For some inexplicable reason, I always assumed I hated beans. As a kid, they looked funny to me. And in my six-year-old brain, funny-looking food = bad food. It wasn’t until I grew up, sacked up, ate one and didn’t throw up, that they became a regular part of my diet. (Okay, hummus helped.)

If you truly hate it, let it go.
Case studies: scallops, figs, radishes, mayo
Scallops will never be my thing, no matter how fresh they are, how well they’ve been prepared, and how many times I try them. Figs, radishes, mayonnaise – still disgusting, as well. (Which, did I mention I hate mayonnaise? I did? Oh, good.) Sometimes, a certain food just won’t do it for you. And it’s okay. Just move on to the next one.

And that’s it. Readers? Suggestions?

~~~

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(All images courtesy of NatalieDee.com. Go there now.)

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Alzheimer’s Prevention Foods & Vitamins + Anti Alzheimer Diet Plan

Mediterranean Foods that May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s
The Mediterranean diet has been recognized for years as one of the world’s healthiest cuisines. To add to the list of benefits that the Mediterranean diet provides, such as lowering one’s risk of heart disease and cancer, studies now indicate that eating traditional Mediterranean foods may also help reduce one’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This anti Alzheimer diet is delicious, nutritious, and beneficial to one’s health in a variety of ways.

Elderly people may have heard the hype about foods that may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Combined with regular exercise, the Mediterranean diet may compose the ideal Alzheimer’s prevention food.

The Mediterranean diet is typically very low in red meat and poultry, but very high in fish, nuts, and healthy oils such as olive oils. This means that, instead of the unhealthy saturated fats and cholesterol found in foods such as beef or pork, a person adhering to a Mediterranean diet would consume many of the unsaturated fats that the body needs.

For one who is looking for ways to reduce his or her risk of Alzheimer’s, cholesterol levels are a key factor in maintaining healthy brain function. Saturated fats have also been shown to possibly contribute to brain damage by blocking vital arteries that normally supply the brain with the blood and nutrients that it requires.

Conversely, the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and olive oils have been found to help preserve the brain’s cell membranes. Additionally, the Mediterranean diet is composed largely of fruits and vegetables, providing an excellent source of fiber and a healthy dose of Alzheimer’s prevention vitamins.

For a person looking to improve his or her health with anti Alzheimer foods, the Mediterranean diet is surely an excellent choice. However, switching to this diet is not so simple as trading in one’s steak for olive oil and fish. One must keep track of his or her caloric intake and Alzheimer’s prevention nutrition.

Women should eat between about 1,600 and 1,800 calories per day on this diet, with men eating between 2,000 and 2,200 calories per day. Keep in mind that these numbers are highly approximated and will vary greatly based on one’s personal age, weight, and height.

Serving portions should also be monitored. Typically, a serving portion of fish should be about 3 ounces, a portion of olive oil should be about one tablespoon, and a portion of nuts should be about 1/4 cup. Each meal should be composed of as many vegetables as possible, with fruits also being eaten in larger proportions than that of high-fat foods.

Some people have difficulty making the switch to a Mediterranean diet, as this cuisine is foreign to many people. The following are sample meal plans that will hopefully inspire ideas for more dishes that uphold this healthy Alzheimer’s prevention diet plan:

1. 3 oz flounder baked with olive oil, white wine, fennel, oregano, and basil
2. Couscous with garlic, parsley, squash, and tomatoes
3. Greek salad with low-fat vinaigrette and Kalamata olives

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