Sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, beta carotene, complex carbohydrates, vitamin C, vitamin B6, as well as carotene (the pink, yellow ones).
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, USA, compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables.17 The sweet potato ranked number one, when vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, protein and complex carbohydrates were considered.
Avocados
Many people avoid avocados because of its high fat content; they believe that avoiding all fats leads to better health and easier-to-control body weight - this is a myth. Approximately 75% of the calories in an avocado come from fat; mostly monosaturated fat.
Avocados are also very rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin K and vitamin E and have a very high fiber content of 25% soluble and 75% insoluble fiber.
Studies have shown that regular avocado consumption lowers blood cholesterol levels.
Avocado extracts are currently being studied in the laboratory to see whether they might be useful for treating diabetes or hypertension.
Researchers from Ohio State University found that nutrients taken from avocados were able to stop oral cancercells, and even destroy some of the pre-cancerous cells.
Want to know more? Read our article looking at the health benefits of avocados.
Oatmeal
Concluding our list of top 10 healthy foods is oatmeal. Oatmeal is meal made from rolled or ground oats. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the term "porridge" or "porridge oats" are common terms for the breakfast cereal that is usually cooked.Interest in oatmeal has increased considerably over the last twenty years because of its health benefits.
Studies have shown that if you eat a bowl of oatmeal everyday your blood cholesterol levels, especially if they are too high, will drop, because of the cereal's soluble fiber content. When findings were published in the 1980s, an "oat bran craze" spread across the USA and Western Europe. The oats craze dropped off in the 1990s.
In 1997, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) agreed that foods with high levels of rolled oats or oat bran could include data on their labels about their cardiovascular heart benefits if accompanied with a low-fat diet. This was followed by another surge in oatmeal popularity.
Oats is rich in complex carbohydrates, as well as water-soluble fiber, which slow digestion down and stabilize levels of blood-glucose.
Oatmeal is very rich in B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and potassium. Coarse or steel-cut oats contain more fiber than instant varieties.
Another ingredient, sulforphane, which exists in broccoli, is also said to have anti-cancer as well as anti-inflammatory qualities. However, overcooking can destroy most of the benefits.
2. Quinoa and buckwheat: Research suggest that seeds and sprouts from both quinoa and buckwheat represent rich sources of polyphenol compounds for enhancing the nutrition value of foods such as gluten-free breads.
3. Brown rice: Substitution of brown rice for white rice may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.
4. Rye: Rye is suggested to improve glycemic profiles and rye bread can be used to decrease hunger both before and after lunch when consumed at breakfast.
Nutritional breakdown of raspberries
According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, one cup of raspberries (about 123 grams) contains 64 calories, 1.5 grams of protein, 0.8 grams of fat, and 15 grams of carbohydrate (including 8 grams of fiber and 5 grams of sugar).
Eating one cup of raw raspberries will provide 54% of your vitamin C needs, 12% of vitamin K, 6% of folate, 5% of vitamin E, iron, and potassium, and 41% of manganese needs for the day as well as lesser amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, calcium,magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and copper.
Raspberries contain the antioxidants alpha and beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and choline.
Raspberries are also a powerful source of polyphenols such as anthocyanin, flavonols and ellagitannins, which decrease oxidative damage from free radicals and have shown potential in animal and human studies for preventing or reducing risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart
Food policies should support healthy food production
He and his colleagues suggest one reason unhealthy diets are cheaper is because food policies support the production of cheap, high volume commodities, and this has resulted in a complex system that produces, stores, transports, processes and markets food so as to "favor sales of highly processed food products for maximal industry profit."
This now needs to be balanced with a similar system that supports the production of healthier foods so as to increase the availability and reduce the prices of healthier diets, they urge.
Funds from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and HSPH helped finance the study.
Meanwhile, another HSPH team reported recently in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest federal nutrition program, is failing to improve dietary quality.
Almonds
Second on our list of top 10 healthy foods is almonds. Almonds are rich in nutrients, including magnesium, vitaminE, iron, calcium, fiber, and riboflavin. A scientific review published in Nutrition Reviews3 found that almonds as a food may help maintain healthy cholesterol levels.Almonds have more fiber than any other tree nut.
The fatty acid profile of almonds, which is made up of 91-94% unsaturated fatty acids, may partly explain why it helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
Leafy green vegetables
Studies have shown that a high intake of dark-leafy vegetables, such as spinach or cabbage may significantly lower a person's risk of developing diabetes type 2.
Researchers at the University of Leicester, England, said that the impact of dark green vegetables on human health should be investigated further, after they gathered data from six studies. They reported their findings in the BMJ.16
Spinach, for example, is very rich in antioxidants, especially when uncooked, steamed or very lightly boiled. It is a good source of vitamins A, B6, C, E and K, as well as selenium, niacin, zinc, phosphorus, copper, folic acid, potassium, calcium, manganese, betaine, and iron.
Wheat germ
Wheat germ is the part of wheat that germinates to grow into a plant - the embryo of the seed. Germ, along with bran, is commonly a by-product of the milling; when cereals are refined, the germ and bran are often milled out.
Wheat germ is high in several vital nutrients, such as vitamin E, folic acid (folate), thiamin, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, as well as fatty alcohols and essential fatty acids.
Wheat germ is also a good source of fiber.
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