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Superfood Nutrition

Superfoods are highly nutritious foods that have multiple benefits for your daily diet. While some foods are high in one nutrient, superfoods have multiple nutritional benefits. Superfoods can help prevent cancer and heart disease while also helping lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the body. While there are multiple superfoods available, some can be especially beneficial for your diet.

  1. Acai Berry

    • The acai berry has antioxidants that can help prevent cancers. According to Dr. Nicholas Perricone, who is a member of the American College of Nutrition and has been featured on Oprah, the acai berry has 10 times the amount of antioxidants that red grapes do. Acai berry can be taken in its natural form but is also found in juices and supplement pills. One serving of Bom Dia's Acai with Blueberry has 20 percent of your recommended daily amount of Vitamin C, helping to boost the antioxidants found in the acai berry.

    Beans

    • Beans are considered a superfood because of their high amounts of omega fatty acids and dietary fiber. Dr. Perricone points out that one cup of beans can provide over half of your daily value of dietary fiber. One cup of black beans has 29 g of dietary fiber--118 percent of your daily recommended value. This serving also has 42 g of protein and 54 percent of your daily recommended value of iron. Beans also have 82 percent of your daily value of potassium, and 215 percent of your daily value of folate.

    Wheat Grass

    • While green foods are known to be healthy, many fail to realize the major benefits of wheat grass. Greens such as wheat grass are considered more nutritionally valuable than other green vegetables. Wheat grass contains P4D1, an antioxidant-like compound. A 100 g serving of wheat grass has vitamins B1 through B6, as well as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, potassium and calcium.

    Nuts

    • Nuts are a great source of some types of omega fatty acids and other healthy fats. According to Dr. Perricone, nuts can help to "decrease your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes." He also points out that they can reduce signs of aging. One cup of mixed nuts has 24 g of protein and 28 percent of your daily value of iron. While the nuts are high in fat (70 g per one cup), there are 43 g of monounsaturated fat and 14.8 g of poly unsaturated fat. These fats are considered more healthy than saturated fats.

    Peppers

    • Peppers are a great way to pump up your metabolism while giving your body important nutrients. Certain peppers (chili peppers, as pointed out by Dr. Perricone) have high anti-cancer, anti-heart disease, anti-inflammatory properties that come from the capsaicinoids in the food. One chili pepper has 108 percent of your daily value of Vitamin C.

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