Superfoods
Oh, You Mean Unprocessed Foods
Man is the only species who tries and usually fails to outsmart evolution. Brilliant chemists process foods in new and tasty ways, but nature gave us unprocessed foods for health and longevity. Today doctors and scientists are rediscovering the health benefits of unprocessed foods. The funny thing is many are now being called "superfoods," but in reality they are just ordinary foods—foods nature intended you to eat.
It turns out food and beverages that are good for your health are also good for your skin, which is your largest, most exposed organ. As you read the short and by no means inclusive list of "surperfoods" below, understand that a diet including these foods supports the health of your skin and your body as a whole. Unprocessed foods prolong youth and thwart skin cancer—things chemical sunscreens were never intended to do and can't do.
Water
Water is not technically food, but among other things, it transports nutrients to all of your organs, including your skin. You've heard you should drink eight, eight-ounce cups of beverage per day. There is no scientific basis for this recommendation, but like many things unproven, this too has become dogma1.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, recommends 3.7 liters per day (almost one gallon) of beverages for men and 2.7 liters (roughly 11 cups) for women, more for pregnancy and lactation2. Any beverage, including your coffee, counts toward your daily water intake. Roughly 20% to 50% of your water comes from food, so according to the IOM, men should drink up to 12.5 cups, while women should imbibe nine cups per day. Do you find it curious and convenient that these high-volume recommendations came about after the push to sell bottled water?3
If you think these recommendations are outrageous and that there is no way you can drink that much liquid, you are right. Nature gave you mechanisms to determine if you are dehydrated—thirst, dry skin, dark urine color, muscle and joint pains, and low energy4. If you are thirsty, have dry skin, or urinate dark yellow, consume more beverages. If you are constantly achy and lethargic, drink more beverages. It's that simple.
Consider adding one additional cup per day to your routine. In one week, evaluate how you feel. Is your skin moister? Do your joints and muscles ache less? Are you more energetic? Add another beverage per day to your routine if you see improvement but are not yet asymptomatic. Forget the one-size-fits-all daily intake of water. There are too many variables, and no one really knows what your daily intake should be. Let nature and your body be your guide.
Berries
Berries, especially blueberries, are packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids. They lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, and they are also anti-inflammatory5.
"Inflammation is a key driver of all chronic diseases, so blueberries have a host of benefits," says Dr. Ann Kulze, MD, of Charleston, S.C., author of Dr. Ann's 10-Step Diet, A Simple Plan for Permanent Weight Loss and Lifelong Vitality. The richer the color, the more antioxidants your berries have.
Vegetables
Broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts contain the powerful cancer fighter brassinin6. Try to eat one of these three times a week.
Omega-3 Fatty Acid
Omega-3 Fatty Acid is well known for its health-deriving properties7 8 9. We are told wild salmon is the best source of Omega-3s and vitamin D, but that is incorrect. Salmon are carnivores, and suggesting hundreds of millions of people eat salmon three times every week is irresponsible and unsustainable. If lions and cheetahs were high in Omega-3s, would you recommend eating them?
Pasture-fed, organic beef, chicken, and turkey, as nature intended, are high in Omega-3s10 and are a sustainable source of protein. Eggs from free-range, pasture-fed chickens are high in Omega-3s as well. Insist your grocer carry locally grown, pasture-fed organic meat and eggs.
Tea
White, green, and black teas are all high in cancer-fighting antioxidants11 12 13 14 15. There is evidence that green and white teas contain a higher quality antioxidant known as Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). To maximize the cancer-fighting benefit, dunk your teabag or stir your loose tea for ten seconds, about the time it takes to sing one verse of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Then let it steep for two to three minutes.
If you can't stomach green or white tea, then black tea will do just fine. Sweeten, if necessary, with no-calorie natural sugar made from the stevia plant instead of honey, maple syrup, cane sugar, or artificial sweeteners. Replace all your sodas and fruit juices with tea to fight cancer and for the added benefit of reducing caloric intake.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes have cancer-fighting lycopene16, and heating the tomato makes the lycopene benefits more readily available to your body. Lycopene also reverses photo-aging effects of UV overexposure17. Enjoy pizza with tomato slices cooked on top and pasta with plenty of tomato sauce.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate is high in flavonol antioxidants and low in sugar. Flavonol antioxidants may improve DNA resistance to oxidative stress18. This is not a license to eat more foods made with dark chocolate. Remember: Everything in moderation.
Nature gave you tools to fight oxidative stress from the sun, pollution, exercise, anguish, and living in general. A diet rich in unprocessed foods, high in antioxidants, Omega-3s, and other phytonutrients gives your body the resources it needs to keep your skin young and cancer free.
"No other method to prevent cancer has been identified that has such a powerful impact."
—Dr. Cedric Garland, vitamin D expert
1 "Drink at least eight glasses of water a day." Really? Is there scientific evidence for "8 × 8"? by Heinz Valdin, Department of Physiology, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
2
http://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/Total%20Water%20and%20Macronutr.pdf
3
http://www.factsmart.org/h2o/h2o.htm
4
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dehydration/DS00561/DSECTION=symptoms
5 "Therapeutic potential of inhibition of the NF-κB pathway in the treatment of inflammation and cancer." Yamamoto and Gaynor 107 (2): 135 -- Journal of Clinical Investigation.
6 Mehta, Rajendra G., et al. (1994). "Cancer chemopreventive activity of brassinin, a phytoalexin from cabbage". Oxford Journals, Carcinogenesis,Volume16, Issue 2: 399-404.
7 Augustsson, Katarina, et al. (2003). "A prospective study of intake of fish and marine fatty acids and prostate cancer". Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
12 (1): 64–67.
8 De Deckere, E. A. (1999). "Possible beneficial effect of fish and fish n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in breast and colorectal cancer". Eur J Cancer Prev
8 (3): 213–221.
9 Caygill, C. P., & Hill, M. J. (1995). "Fish, n−3 fatty acids and human colorectal and breast cancer mortality". Eur J Cancer Prev
4 (4): 329–332.
10
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_environment/greener-pastures.pdf.
11 Das, A., Banik, N. L., & Ray, S. K. (November 2009). "Flavonoids activated caspases for apoptosis in human glioblastoma T98G and U87MG cells but not in human normal astrocytes". Cancer
116 (1): NA.
12 Hsieh, T. C., & Wu, J. M. (October 2009). "Targeting CWR22Rv1 prostate cancer cell proliferation and gene expression by combinations of the phytochemicals EGCG, genistein and quercetin". Anticancer Research
29 (10): 4025–32.
13 Bettuzzi, S., Brausi, M., Rizzi, F., Peracchia, G., & Corti, A. (January 2006). "Chemoprevention of Human Prostate Cancer by Oral Administration of green Tea Catechins in Volunteers with High-Grade Prostate Intraepithelial Neoplasia: A Preliminary Report from a One-Year Proof-of-Principle Study".
14 Qiao, Y., Cao, J., Xie, L., Shi, X. (September 2009). "Cell growth inhibition and gene expression regulation by (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in human cervical cancer cells." Archives of Pharmacal Research 32 (9): 1309–15.
15 Philips, B. J., Coyle, C. H., Morrisroe, S. N., Chancellor, M. B., & Yoshimura, N. (August 2009). "Induction of apoptosis in human bladder cancer cells by green tea catechins." Biomedical Research 30 (4): 207–15.
16 Giovannucci, E., Ascherio, A., Rimm, E. B., Stampfer, M. J., Colditz, G. A., & Willett, W. C. (1995). "Intake of carotenoids and retinol in relation to risk of prostate cancer." J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 87 (23): 1767–76.
171 Di Mascio, P., Kaiser, S., & Sies, H. (1989). "Lycopene as the most efficient biological carotenoid singlet oxygen quencher." Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 274 (2): 532–8.
18 Spadafranca, A., Martinez, Conesa C., Sirini, S., & Testolin, G. (Nov 2009). "Effect of dark chocolate on plasma epicatechin levels, DNA resistance to oxidative stress and total antioxidant activity in healthy subjects." Br J Nutr. 5 (11): 1–7.
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