If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to upgrade your health, lifestyle and relationships, one of your best bets is to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables, and knowledge of foods that can help you to succeed at this. I can tell you now, if you’re not eating the recommended five to nine servings each and every day, you’re probably not as healthy as you could be.
For example, did you know diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated with a lower risk of dozens of chronic illnesses, including obesity, diabetes and cancer? In a recent study, which tracked the health and dieting habits of nearly 100,000 men and women for 14 years, Harvard researchers found that adults with the highest daily intake of fruits and vegetables had the lowest risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
In fact researchers determined that for every extra serving of fruits and vegetables the study participants added to their diets, their risk of heart disease fell by four percent. If that doesn’t melt your butter, it may also interest you to know that many greens including spinach and broccoli are rich in antioxidant compounds called lutein and zeaxanthin. These agents are known to help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts, two age-related eye diseases that affect millions of Americans over the age of sixty-five.
When you add deep red and bright pink fruits and vegetables to your daily diet, you’re adding powerful, cancer-fighting phytochemicals called lycopenes. Lycopene rich diets are known to reduce the risk of cervical cancer in women, and the risk of prostate cancer in men. Also orange and yellow fruits and vegetables excellent sources of vitamin C and Beta-carotene.
Both substances are natural antioxidants that enhance the ability of the immune system to ward off illnesses and infections ranging from cancer to the common cold. As mentioned in one of my other articles, scientists from around the world have been looking for evidence that certain foods contain protective compounds that can help ward off cancer, diabetes and other diseases, and to succeed at this I’ve listed eight food Secrets for Successful Relationships and Lifestyle.
1. You can literally turn your body into a fat burning machine when you eat raspberries everyday. Japanese researchers discovered this juicy wonderful fruit puts your body’s metabolism into overdrive, so you burn more calories and fat even while you’re resting and it works three times better than cayenne pepper.
2. A high intake of plant lignans has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer for premenopausal women by 78 percent, all thanks to its “phytoestrogens,” as according to a new German study.
3. Broccoli may prevent blindness, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. They found that the antioxidant sulforaphane in broccoli and broccoli sprouts protects the eye from damage caused by the sun’s ultra violet rays.
4. Snacking on a handful of walnuts once a day along with consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables can slash your risk of heart disease and stroke by half, according to a Spanish study.
5. Olive oil is loaded with oleocanthal, a chemical that works just like ibuprofen and other anti-inflammation drugs to reduce pain and inflammation by inhibiting the activity of certain enzymes. Throw portabella or crimini mushrooms into your soup for an even bigger health boost. The mushrooms are loaded with virtually the same amount of antioxidants as carrots, green beans, red peppers and broccoli, Penn State researchers say.
6. Start your day with an anti-aging breakfast of buckwheat pancakes or wheat germ sprinkled on your cereal. In animal studies, French and Spanish researchers found that immune-bolstering poloyphenols in both buckwheat and wheat germ reverse premature aging.
7. The anti-inflammatory properties of the same ginger used in candy and soda may help kill ovarian cancer cells as effectively as or better some chemotherapy drugs, and may even stop cancer cells from growing, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
8. Women who drink six or more cups of coffee everyday are 22 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who don’t drink coffee, researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis say. Drink decaf? You get even more benefits – a 33 percent lower risk of developing diabetes. That’s because coffee contains antioxidants that may help metabolize sugar and may protect the pancreas.
Now that you have my eight food secrets, let’s talk about their effects on your relationships and lifestyle. To begin let’s address your reaction to this article. Have you read this article believing that you don’t need any of the 8 tips mentioned? Or have you read this article knowing that your opinions about health, lifestyle and relationships have no connection what so ever to what’s been written?
What ever your opinion, these 8 food secrets can and will have an affect in your relationships in ways perhaps you’ve yet to realize. Take for example, are you in a relationship with someone with a really restrictive diet? Or is the opposite true, whereby you are the one with a restrictive diet, and your partner is the one with a broad palate? Perhaps you will find it interesting to know that for some people this kind of opposites in a relationships as it relates to cuisine gives some people a perspective and forces them to become more creative in the kitchen, while others are of the mindset that “if you are a picky eater, that is remarkably unsexy and you’re out.
Let’s face it, small things are easy to change and it isn’t uncommon for us to be more aware of our eating quirks when we’re out on a first date or any date for that matter, and want to make a good impression. So if you really want to make a great impression in your relationships, recommend one or all of these 8 food secrets, and watch both your lifestyle and your relationships grow.
