Superfoods you can use in offerings to Krishna

Having last week talked about the need for a health-giving diet, here is a list of foods that are generally classed as "superfoods": that is, they are particularly rich in one or more antioxidants and/ or other nutrients and so have powerful health-giving, anti-ageing and disease-preventing properties:

• Vegetables:  broccoli,  peppers, kale, spinach (also contains lutein to help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration), and  brussels sprouts, chillis, daikon radishes (mooli), sprouted beans and seeds. Broccoli and the cruciferous vegetables can help prevent/ fight cancers of the lungs and breast.

• Fruit: açai berries, goji berries, cranberries, avocado, apples, blueberries, pomegranates, pumpkin, kiwi, oranges,and tomatoes- all rich in antioxidants, soluble fibre and vitamin C; can help prevent cancer and other diseases. Citrus fruits contain bioflavinoids with anti-cancer properties. Tomatoes contain lycopene, a potent antioxidant which can help prevent cancers, especially of the prostate.

• Grains/ pulses/ nuts: beans, barley, oats (help reduce chloresterol and balance blood sugar levels), seeds, nuts (especially Brazil nuts, also walnuts, which contain omega-3 fatty acids and help prevent heart disease and almonds, which can help lower LDL chloresterol levels) and buckwheat. Many contain high levels of zinc, which helps skin repair itself.

• Other: Cinnamon, turmeric (haldi), dark chocolate, honey, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil , sea salt, umeboshi plums,wheat grass, miso, yogurt and kefir.

There are more and more superfoods being discovered all the time, and more well-known foods are also being added to the list as we find out more about their properties. I wonder if eventually we will find out that ALL plant foods are superfoods?

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