Superfoods
For easier explanation of food pyramids or food plates, and for practical reasons in meal planning, foods has been divided in several groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, dairy and oils. Further, the superfoods of each group will be mentioned, and there will be detailed information about at least one representative of each group, to get a closer look of their super power.
Vegetables
Vegetables are low in fat and calories, but very high on minerals, vitamins, fibers and phytonutrients. Vegetables as green pepper, broccoli, cabbage and other have high amount of vitamin C, expressing their antioxidative effect. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato, soybeans, spinach and others are high in potassium, beneficial for lowering blood pressure and prevention of kidney stones. Dietary fibers improve the feeling of fullness, and together with the low sugar and calorie load of this products, may help in prevention of obesity. Fibers also help proper bowel function, thus they prevent constipation and help the detoxifying process. Along with the phytonutrients present in vegetables overall conclusion is that they may reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and protect form certain types of cancer.
Dark green vegetables and crucifer vegetables have been most commonly mentioned as beneficial on human health, not only because of previously mentioned components (indoles and lutein) but also because of the presence of chlorophyll a compound that has been found to have detox effect, as it attracts and removes damaging chemicals form the body. Most common vegetables mentioned as superfoods form these group are:
- Grasses and sprouts have big amount of amino acids, carotenoids, chlorophyll, vitamin C and minerals. (www.ucc.edu, 2014) And the superfoods are:
Orange and red vegetables are also promoted as superfoods due to the high amount of carotenoids. Beta-carotene is one of the most commonly mentioned antioxidants and also an orange pigment, and is characteristic for orange vegetables. Tomatoes are also in the group of superfoods due to the fact that they are rich in vitamins and carotenoids as lycopene and beta-carotene. Super vegetables form these group are:
Mushrooms are well proven to have strong beneficial effect, and many of them have even been used in traditional medicine. Mushrooms with super immunity enhancing properties are:
There have been relatively few direct intervention trials of mushroom consumption in humans, although those that have been completed to date indicate that mushrooms and their extracts are generally well-tolerated with few, if any, side-effects. Immunomodulating and anti-tumor effects of mushrooms and their extracts appear to hold potential health benefits. These benefits are primarily due to their polysaccharide content, either in the form of betaglucans or polysaccharide-protein complexes, which appear to exert their anti-tumorigenic effects by enhancement of cellular immunity via effects on the balance of T helper cell populations and induction of certain interleukins and interferon (IFN)γ. This review summarizes the current knowledge on edible mushrooms and their components on health outcomes, with a focus on the evaluation of the evidence from human trials. Where information is available from such trials, the active compounds are identified and their proposed mechanisms are discussed. (Journal of Functional Foods Vol 4, Issue 4, Ocotber 2012 Pages 687-709.)
Legumes are low fat food, but high in plant proteins, and dietary fiber, B vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Legumes also have been found to have antioxidant properties. In one study on in vitro animal cells the cancer cell proliferation and cellular antioxidant activity were evaluated on different legumes, along with phytochemicals, radical scavenging activity and other antioxidant parameters. Azuki beans were found to have strongest anti proliferative properties against all digestive system cancer cells, ovary cancer and breast cancer. Black soybeans have been found to have highest amount of phytochemicals as saponins, phytic acid and strongest cellular antioxidant activity. This shows that even legumes have certain phytochemicals that show anti-oxidative and cancer preventive power (Xu and Chang, 2012).
Most commonly mentioned legumes as super foods are the beans:· Adzuki beans
Closer look on beneficial effect of broccoli sprouts and Reishi mushrooms will be given further.
