Much is made of the notion of superfoods, I was just wondering what do you all think are some of the most healthful foods that give you power and healing?

I'll start... most of these are just foods I've done a lot of reading about and have found them to have unique properties for preventing disease and improving/maintaining health (some non-vegan foods have been omitted).

In no particular order:

sesame seeds
flax seeds
hemp seeds
avocado
olives/oil
cucumber
green barley
turmeric
garlic
ginger
rosemary
broccoli sprouts
fresh goji berries
chlorella
noni
bee pollen
tomatoes
celery
onion
purple cabbage
wild blueberries
cordyceps mushroom
willow bark tea
neem tea
acacia gum
boswellia resin (frankinscense)
pomegranate
lemons

mangosteen is a great superfood!!
love earthangel
xoxoxooxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

kindness, service, compassion

In no particular order: SPIRULINA!, lacinato kale, hemp seeds/protein powder, flax oil, wheatgrass juice, dates, cucumber, avocado, papaya, Manna bread, and any seasonal local produce!

Watermelon! Valencia oranges! Cherimoya! The inside new growth of romaine!
Cherries! Persimmons! Avocados! Sunflower sprouts!

E3 LIVE all the way.

Whatever fresh fruit and produce, and a clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, unpolluted place to live in, and no elcetromagnetic pollution around... Hard to find nowadays

Raw Fruit Festival
[www.raw-fruit-festival.net]
Health, Fitness and Fasting Retreats in Spain
[www.fit-in-nature.net]

theredtree Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> E3 LIVE all the way.

Scam.

there are no superfoods.

garlic, ginger, kale, avocados, pineapple, hemp protein powder, strawberries, kiwi, kombucha, beer. in no particular order.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2007 08:46PM by silverundertone.

Thanks! lots of good stuff ill be adding to my list, kale, mangosteen, wheatgrass juice, and the blue-green algae all seem to have unique elements. Kindness also is delicious! Beer? hey whatever works for you!

actually, maybe not the blue-green algae after reading this: [www.tldp.com]
maybe just stick with spirulina and chlorella.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2007 11:30PM by jono.

Romaine lettuce and oranges are at the top of my list.

Blueberries.

Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches, melons, tomatoes, green onions, avocado, cucumber, celery, summer squash.

Too many to list, really. If you eliminate even one color from the rainbow you are missing something.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Romaine lettuce and oranges are at the top of my
> list.
>
> Blueberries.
>
> Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches,
> melons, tomatoes, green onions, avocado, cucumber,
> celery, summer squash.
>
> Too many to list, really. If you eliminate even
> one color from the rainbow you are missing
> something.




Thanks, that's really good advice that I usually forget!

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Romaine lettuce and oranges are at the top of my
> list.
>
> Blueberries.
>
> Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches,
> melons, tomatoes, green onions, avocado, cucumber,
> celery, summer squash.
>
> Too many to list, really. If you eliminate even
> one color from the rainbow you are missing
> something.

what are you missing? is that a gabriel cousens rainbow thing?

what about infrared or ultraviolet? do we need to eat those too? :-)

>what are you missing?

Hesperidin: citrus fruits
Anthocyanadins: dark purples, blues
lycopene: reds
carotenoids: reds, oranges, yellowsm greens
isothiocyanates: cruciferous leaves

etc.

>is that a gabriel cousens rainbow thing?

Certainly not.I don't follow self-professed gurus.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >what are you missing?
>
> Hesperidin: citrus fruits
> Anthocyanadins: dark purples, blues
> lycopene: reds
> carotenoids: reds, oranges, yellowsm greens
> isothiocyanates: cruciferous leaves
>
> etc.
>
> >is that a gabriel cousens rainbow thing?
>
> Certainly not.I don't follow self-professed gurus.

would you claim that this rainbow requirement is
for humans only?

>would you claim that this rainbow requirement is
for humans only?

It's probably a good idea for some primates genetically closer to us as well.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >would you claim that this rainbow requirement is
> for humans only?
>
> It's probably a good idea for some primates
> genetically closer to us as well.


why?

and what is the basis for this theory?

Variety is protective.

Thompson HJ, Heimendinger J, Diker A, O'neill C, Haegele A, Meinecke B, Wolfe P, Sedlacek S, Zhu Z, Jiang W., Dietary Botanical Diversity Affects the Reduction of Oxidative Biomarkers in Women due to High Vegetable and Fruit Intake.,J Nutr. 2006 Aug;136(8):2207-12.

I am willing to bet my life on it.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Variety is protective.
>
> Thompson HJ, Heimendinger J, Diker A, O'neill C,
> Haegele A, Meinecke B, Wolfe P, Sedlacek S, Zhu Z,
> Jiang W., Dietary Botanical Diversity Affects the
> Reduction of Oxidative Biomarkers in Women due to
> High Vegetable and Fruit Intake.,J Nutr. 2006
> Aug;136(8):2207-12.
>
> I am willing to bet my life on it.

diversity is good, yes.

are all the colors required for the koala and the anteater and the python?
why not?

I'm not aware of primates that citrus...

i read the abstract.

you are free to draw any conclusions that you wish and bet your life on them, but that study does not prove anything. for one thing the specific diet must be described. it is not enough to define them as lbd and hbd.

Your initial claim had an implied imperative; that not eating from the colors of the rainbow will result in compromised health.

Before making such a claim, You would need to show
that the essential actions that you are claiming are due to a specific color
occur
only when the item in question is present, and
under no other conditions,
such as in the presence of other nutritional factors,
or in the fasting state.
that the body is somehow less healthy without the action in question



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2007 06:59PM by fresh.

Yes, color does imply the presence or absence of certain phytochemicals, many of which has been studied extensively alone and in combinations.

And yes, a diet that contains more of these different compounds has been shown to be more protective than a diet that contains less.

Since you are such a doubting Thomas, can you show evidence that a diet lacking in variety or color is more protective?

Koalas by the way are a horrible example to bring up. They have evolved to make heavy (almost exclusive) dependence on the eucalyptus leaf.

jono Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks! lots of good stuff ill be adding to my
> list, kale, mangosteen, wheatgrass juice, and the
> blue-green algae all seem to have unique elements.
> Kindness also is delicious! Beer? hey whatever
> works for you!
>
> actually, maybe not the blue-green algae after
> reading this:
> [www.tldp.com]
> maybe just stick with spirulina and chlorella.

That article rules basically because he mentions Lou Reed.
Oh, and he's probably right about the algae even though I've never had a bad reaction to it. (I drink it in my kombucha!)

Here, this is from Rui Hai Liu, an MD/food scientist at Cornell.

[www.ajcn.org]

If you are absolutely convinced that diversity is not protective, then perhaps you can explain it to him and he can convince a great many people that this is so, because it would be important and help a lot of people.

But these are his words and his stance:

"combinations of fruit resulted in greater antioxidant activity that was additive and synergistic. We proposed that the additive and synergistic effects of phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables are responsible for their potent antioxidant and anticancer activities, and that the benefit of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is attributed to the complex mixture of phytochemicals present in whole foods (31–33).

"This partially explains why no single antioxidant can replace the combination of natural phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables in achieving the health benefits.

"There are {approx}8000 phytochemicals present in whole foods. These compounds differ in molecular size, polarity, and solubility, and these differences may affect the bioavailability and distribution of each phytochemical in different macromolecules, subcellular organelles, cells, organs, and tissues.

Our work suggests that to improve their nutrition and health, consumers should be getting antioxidants from a diverse diet... More important, obtaining antioxidants from dietary intake by consuming a wide variety of foods is unlikely to result in consumption of toxic quantities because foods originating from plants contain many diverse types of phytochemicals in varying quantities."

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, color does imply the presence or absence of
> certain phytochemicals, many of which has been
> studied extensively alone and in combinations.
>

yes i know.

> And yes, a diet that contains more of these
> different compounds has been shown to be more
> protective than a diet that contains less.

not really.

>
> Since you are such a doubting Thomas, can you show
> evidence that a diet lacking in variety or color
> is more protective?

i make no claims about colors. you do.

>
> Koalas by the way are a horrible example to bring
> up. They have evolved to make heavy (almost
> exclusive) dependence on the eucalyptus leaf.

not sure what the relevance of this is.
i was just asking why they don't need to eat all the colors.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here, this is from Rui Hai Liu, an MD/food
> scientist at Cornell.
>
> [www.ajcn.org]
>

studies that show increased fruits and veggies having a benefit do not prove what the scientists think they do.
the causative factor may simply be the reduction in unhealthy foods.

how does the body heal when fasting?
no magic chemicals are entering the body.

all the talk about oxidants and antioxidants has very little meaning as nobody knows what they proclaim to know.

the body takes in nutrients.
the body uses those nutrients to perform actions to maintain health.
assigning specific curative properties to foods/nutrients is not a hard science and is fraught with many difficulties and unknowns.


> If you are absolutely convinced that diversity is
> not protective, then perhaps you can explain it to
> him and he can convince a great many people that
> this is so, because it would be important and help
> a lot of people.
>

you said we are missing something if we don't eat all the colors.
that was what i commented on.

> Our work suggests that to improve their nutrition
> and health, consumers should be getting
> antioxidants from a diverse diet...

maybe. it's unproven.
again i ask where orangutans get the critical protective effects from citrus because i don't think they eat it...

and i ask why so many other animals don't seem to have problems with oxidation and anti-oxidation eating a very limited diet?

Are antioxidants overrated?
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 12, 2005 by J.M. Hirsch Associated Press

Tired of trying to keep track of all the so-called superfoods you're supposed to eat?

You know, oregano that packs 42 times more antioxidants than apples, cooked tomatoes that may prevent prostate cancer, and chocolate and wine that may or may not be health foods?

Then here's the good news -- you can stop trying.

Leading researchers say all those breathless headlines, food packaging claims and seemingly contradictory studies about what antioxidants can and can't do have fostered a faulty silver bullet mind-set that can hinder health more than help.

Instead, experts advise focusing on balance, moder- ation and variety, and leaving the phytochemicals, flavanols and phenolic acids to scientists.
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Researcher Jeffrey Blumberg acknowledges that "doesn't seem to be a very sexy message. People would rather be told there is a superfood, a term I hate because in fact there is no such thing."

Foods labeled as antioxidant-rich -- everything from bottled tea to bags of frozen berries -- have become a $526 million industry that continues to grow.

Even foods that otherwise have seen sales slump are getting a boost from antioxidant claims, says Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of SupermarketGuru.com. Sales of blueberry preserves, for example, are up, though overall jam sales are down.

"It's clear that regardless of whether or not people understand what 'rich in antioxidants' means, it is certainly a logo or a stamp that says 'Buy me! I'm going to help you live forever,' " Lempert says.
Advertisement

Maybe. Maybe not. Experts aren't suggesting antioxidants aren't important or that people shouldn't eat foods that contain them. Instead, they're saying not enough is known about how they work to justify focusing one's diet on any particular antioxidant or food.

It's all about quashing free radicals, harmful chemicals produced by the body and found in the environment that damage cells. That damage has been linked to a host of chronic conditions, from heart problems to cancer, even aging.

Diets rich in antioxidants -- which are in countless foods -- seem to minimize this damage. What's not clear is whether the benefit is from the antioxidants themselves or to the overall diet and the way the antioxidants and other nutrients in it interact.

The evidence increasingly suggests the latter, says Howard Sesso, a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. That means eating patterns make a difference, but probably not eating particular foods or taking supplements.

Diets rich in beta carotene, for example, have been found to help prevent heart disease and cancer, but studies of beta carotene supplements alone have been mostly disappointing. And there is little evidence that one antioxidant is better than another.

Also unknown is whether quantity counts. Manufacturers brag about the amount of antioxidants in their products, but studies have yet to establish that more is better, or whether the body can even absorb the amounts contained in most foods.

Blumberg, a scientist at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition, worries that the hype about antioxidants creates a false sense of security. Eating a daily handful of almonds -- believed good for heart health -- won't make up for a diet otherwise laden with saturated fat and cholesterol.

So how should people work antioxidants into their diets? Think big picture.

Healthy diets are like healthy investment portfolios -- diversified, says John Erdman Jr., a professor of internal medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Eating a variety of produce and whole grains ensures the best mix of all nutrients.

There's probably not much harm in eating a lot of blueberries, but that can't be said of all antioxidant-rich foods. The calories in fruit juice and alcohol, for example, add up quickly and obesity negates the benefits of even the healthiest foods.

Even people trying to address specific health problems would do better to eat a broad mix of foods than to tailor their diets around certain ingredients, the experts say.

"When people get prostate cancer, all of the sudden they make all the changes in their diet," Erdman says. "We don't even know if those changes make a difference then. But we know that if people eat that diet before getting cancer, you don't tend to get it."

Consumers also must be critical of companies' health claims about antioxidants, many of which are unregulated and unsupported by science. And studies often are funded by the industries that benefit when products are dubbed superfoods.

Bottom line -- eat a balanced diet and don't get hung up on the particulars.

go here and then search the screen for ROS, and you will find a good post by biowizard.

[www.sciencechatforum.com]

i eat (try to eat) the colors daily .. just for the sake of variety

ive not read anything but g.cousins

i just like the variety and feel pretty good with it as long as i combine things properly.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> theredtree Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > E3 LIVE all the way.
>
> Scam.
>
> there are no superfoods.

How is this is scam?

Algae is indeed a superfood.

I am a proud user to E3, i rely on it on a daily basis. It is raw, vegan, and organic.

theredtree Wrote:

> How is this is scam?
>
> Algae is indeed a superfood.
>
> I am a proud user to E3, i rely on it on a daily
> basis. It is raw, vegan, and organic.

- what would happen if you didn't eat it daily?
- what is a superfood?
- what is the difference between a food and a superfood?
- do other primates need E3Live?
- what does the superfood do?
- is it foods that act on the body, or the body on foods?

You know......i came to this site because i thought it was a strong community. but the more I hang out here, the more i see that there are alot of degrading individuals. the question asks: What are YOUR superfoods? and since the question is directed to me, and i am capable of having my own opinion, i feel that blue-green algae supplies me with substantial nutirients.

This site it not about conforming to a certain diet. this is my diet. my journey. a diet that best suits me.

and to answer your question:

* My body craves E3 when i do not take it.
* a superfood IMO, is one that offers superior health benefits and are nutrionally dense
a food, IMO, is a solid material that can be absorbed and metabolized by the body
*IMO, you need what you crave, you eat what food is near you. I am from Northern Canada, and yes, i have access to this product, so i do indeed eat it.
* This superfood provides vitamins, minerals and amino acids, omega 3 and 6, 3 times more chlorophyll than wheatgrass, PEA, antioxidants, phycocyanin and enzymes. and is 98% absorbable.

and im not sure what you mean by the last question.

have a great day and good luck with your journey