I love spring and the produce that it brings along with it. It is such a great way to come out of a cold winter to have so many delicious fruits and veggies at our fingertips just waiting to be eaten! I find myself going a little crazy at the store, buying enough to feed a large family and then coming home to remember it is just my husband and I and having to get very creative to eat all of that produce before it goes bad!
If you make the effort to eat better you will feel better, look better and have the energy to be able to perform well in everything in your life. "Food, if it's chosen well, can reshape our medical destinies for the
better," says David Katz, MD, director of the Yale Prevention Research
Center. "It can also improve our mood, focus, energy, skin, and
metabolism."
You don't have to force yourself to choke down your veggies, with very minimal effort you can have a plate full of healthy things that will taste delicious. Try incorporating some of these into your meals every week, you won't be sorry that you did.
Asparagus: These spears are one of the best veggie sources of
folate,
a B vitamin that could help keep you out of a slump. "Folate is
important for the synthesis of the neurotransmitters dopamine,
serotonin, and norepinephrine," says David Mischoulon, MD, a
psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. All of these are crucial for
mood.
A cup of cooked asparagus has 268 micrograms (mcg)—two-thirds of the 400
mcg RDA for women. Add a cup of enriched pasta—which is fortified with
folic acid, the synthetic form of folate—and you'll have a feel-good
meal indeed.
Walnuts: Walnuts are packed with tryptophan, an amino acid your body needs to
create the feel-great chemical serotonin. (In fact, Spanish researchers
found that walnut eaters have higher levels of this natural
mood-regulator.) Another perk: "They're digested slowly," Dr. Katz says.
"This contributes to mood stability and can help you tolerate stress."
Spinach: These tasty leaves are a great source of
iron (especially if you don't eat meat), which is a key component in red blood cells that fuel our muscles with oxygen for energy.
Researchers
in Sweden recently identified another way in which these greens might
keep you charged: Compounds found in spinach actually increase the
efficiency of our mitochondria, the energy-producing factories inside
our cells. That means eating a cup of cooked spinach a day may give you
more lasting power on the elliptical machine, or chasing after your children all day.
Artichokes: If you've been huffing and puffing up the stairs, try these spiky-leafed vegetables. They're loaded with
magnesium,
a mineral vital for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the
body—including generating energy, says Forrest Nielsen, PhD, a U.S.
Department of Agriculture research nutritionist. "If you're not getting
enough magnesium, your muscles have to work harder to react and you tire
more quickly."
About 68% of us aren't getting enough of this
mineral. For women, the goal is 320 milligrams (mg) per day. One medium
artichoke provides 77 mg of magnesium (and just 60 calories!). Other top
sources include
nuts, legumes, and whole grains.
Strawberries: They may not have the smoothest complexion themselves, but strawberries
can get you one. They're loaded with antioxidants that help your skin
repair damage caused by environmental factors like pollution and UV
rays. Plus, they're packed with
vitamin C
(less than a cup gets you your entire 75 mg RDA)—the vitamin associated
with fewer wrinkles and less dryness, per research in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Blueberries: Eat them regularly and you may reap big brain benefits. In a recent
study, people with age-related memory decline who drank roughly two and a
half cups of blueberry juice per day for 12 weeks (the equivalent of
eating a cup of blueberries) made significant improvements on memory and
learning tests compared with those who drank a placebo juice.
The
secret component? A type of antioxidant called anthocyanins, says study
co-author Robert Krikorian, PhD, a psychologist at the University of
Cincinnati: "Anthocyanins have been shown in animal studies to increase
signals among brain cells and improve their resilience, enhancing
learning and memory."
Source:
Health.com
