Fw: The Healthiest Foods On Earth

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The Healthiest Foods On Earth

The most important consideration in constructing a healthy diet: Eat whole foods

that have had minimal processing.

By Jonny Bowden, Forbes.com

 

What is the best diet for human beings?

 

Vegetarian? Vegan? High-protein? Low-fat? Dairy-Free?

 

Hold on to your shopping carts: There is no perfect diet for human beings. At

least not one that's based on how much protein, fat or carbohydrates you eat.

 

People have lived and thrived on high-protein, high-fat diets (the Inuit of

Greenland); on low-protein, high-carb diets (the indigenous peoples of southern

Africa); on diets high in raw milk and cream (the people of the Loetschental

Valley in Switzerland); diets high in saturated fat (the Trobriand Islanders)

and even on diets in which animal blood is considered a staple (the Massai of

Kenya and Tanzania). And folks have thrived on these diets without the ravages

of degenerative diseases that are so epidemic in modern American life-heart

disease, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, osteoporosis and cancer.

 

In Pictures: The Healthiest Foods On Earth

 

The only thing these diets have in common is that they're all based on whole

foods with minimal processing. Nuts, berries, beans, raw milk, grass-fed meat.

Whole, real, unprocessed food is almost always healthy, regardless of how many

grams of carbs, protein or fat it contains.

 

All these healthy diets have in common the fact that they are absent foods with

bar codes. They are also extremely low in sugar. In fact, the number of modern

or ancient societies known for health and longevity that have consumed a diet

high in sugar would be ... let's see ... zero.

 

Truth be told, what you eat probably matters less than how much processing it's

undergone. Real food-whole food with minimal processing-contains a virtual

pharmacy of nutrients, phytochemicals, enzymes, vitamins, minerals,

antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and healthful fats, and can easily keep you

alive and thriving into your 10th decade.

 

Berries, for example, are phenomenally low in calories, high in fiber and loaded

with plant compounds that improve memory and help fight cancer. Studies have

consistently shown that nut-eaters have lower rates of heart disease. Beans are

notorious for their high fiber content and are a part of the diet of people-from

almost every corner of the globe-who live long and well.

 

Protein--the word comes from a Greek word meaning " of prime importance " -is a

feature of every healthy diet ever studied. Meat, contrary to its terrible

reputation, can be a health food if-and this is a big if-the meat comes from

animals that have been raised on pasture land, have never seen the inside of a

feedlot farm and have never been shot full of antibiotics and hormones.

 

Ditto for raw milk, generally believed to be one of the healthiest beverages on

the planet by countless devotees who often go to great expense and inconvenience

to obtain it from small, sustainable farms. Wild salmon, whose omega-3 content

is consistently higher than its less-fortunate, farm-raised brethren, gets its

red color from a powerful antioxidant called astaxathin. The combination of

protein, omega-3s and antioxidants makes wild salmon a contender for anyone's

list of great foods.

 

Another great food: eggs-one of nature's most perfect creations, especially if

you don't throw out the all-important yolk. (Remember " whole " foods means

exactly that-foods in their original form. Our robust ancestors did not eat

" low-fat " caribou; we don't need to eat " egg-white " omelets.)

 

There are really no " bad " vegetables, but some of them are superstars. Any

vegetable from the Brassica genus-broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale-is

loaded with plant chemicals called indoles, which help reduce the risk of

cancer.

 

In the fruit kingdom, apples totally deserve their reputation as

doctor-repellants: they're loaded with fiber, minerals (like bone-building

boron) and phytochemicals (like quercetin, which is known to be a powerful

anti-inflammatory and to have anti-cancer properties). Some exciting new

research suggests that pomegranate juice slows the progression of certain

cancers. Other research shows it lowers blood pressure and may even act as a

" natural Viagra. "

 

Tea deserves special mention on any list of the world's healthiest foods. The

second most widely consumed beverage in the world (after water), all forms of

tea (black, oolong, white, green and the newer Yerba Matte) are loaded with

antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Some types (green tea, for example)

contain plant chemicals called catechins which have decidedly anti-cancer

activity.

 

Finally, let's not forget members of the Alliaceae family of plants-onions,

garlic and shallots. Garlic has been used for thousands of years for its

medicinal properties; hundreds of published studies support its antimicrobial

effects as well as its ability to lower the risk of heart disease. A number of

studies have shown an inverse relationship between onion consumption and certain

types of cancer.

 

A healthy diet doesn't have to contain every one of the " healthiest foods on

earth, " but you can't go wrong putting as many of the above mentioned foods in

heavy rotation on your personal eating plan.

 

Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., is a board-certified nutritionist and the author of

seven books on health and nutrition, including The 150 Most Effective Ways to

Boost Your Energy and The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.