Super Foods!

One of the annoying facts of aging are the limitations that seem to restrict our lives. None is more depressing than a lengthening list of dietary no-no’s. Some result from illnesses or conditions we develop (like lactose intolerance or diverticular disease) and some are part of lifestyle changes we choose in an effort to have healthier lives. Rather than putting the focus on what you can’t have, it helps to keep your mind on beneficial foods. Learning about them, finding them at the store, learning to incorporate them into meals (if any are unfamiliar) — these positive actions keep the blues at bay far better than moping about losses.

Several versions of the “super foods” list exist. The 14-item prescription for longevity touted by Dr. Steven Pratt in SuperFoods Rx includes all but one of the ten-item list from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which advocates eating cantaloupe as a source of vitamins A and C. Also, the CSPI online listing is at odds with a mailing from them, with salmon and bran cereal online and fat-free milk and blueberries on paper. The blueberries are one of Dr. Pratt’s “everyday foods that can change your life for the better!” Although he ignores milk itself, he does advocate using yoghurt and kefir.

The CSPI list is significant in a lack of protein sources, whereas Dr. Pratt also encourages us to eat skinless poultry breast meat as well as the wild salmon and other fatty fish, oysters, and clams and most forms of soy. His other SuperFoods include:

beans
broccoli
whole grains
citrus
orange vegetables like squash, carrots, peppers
greens such as spinach, collards, kale, romaine
tea
red fruits like tomatoes, watermelon, strawberry guava
nuts such as sesame, almonds, pumpkin, macadamia

Red, green, orange and crunchy might be an easy way to remember at least part of this list.