June 2, 2018
When it comes to healthy habits and healthy ways to prevent diseases, some people do not realize they might already have a whole pharmacy in their own kitchen. Some ingredients of our daily cooking routines have highly positive interactions with our bodies. This is the reason why we call it superfood and it is a lot more accessible than we think.
4 Superfoods You Can Easily Access
Garlic
Besides its good taste and smell (to some of us!) garlic has been used for its medicinal properties since decades. Powerful antibiotic and antioxidant, garlic is a great ally to prevent any kind of virus to intrude your immune system. The allicin contained in garlic is also used as an anti-fungal than can be used to fight yeast infections. Used regularly in your recipe or crushed and mixed to olive oil as treatment, garlic is a must have and budget friendly superfood to keep at hand.
Cacao
We are all familiar with chocolate. At the roots of the tasty candy is the cacao bean that once reduced in raw powder is a strong antioxidant and a source of many nutrients such as protein, calcium, iron and magnesium.
With its serotonin and tryptophan, raw cacao powder is also proven to raise endorphin and improves mood.
Turmeric
Added as a spice into meals or drank as a golden latte, turmeric is a bright yellow powdered root that has proven its healing properties on so many aspects of the body.
This ayurvedic plant improves digestion, act as a great antioxidant, boost your level of energy, but turmeric is best known for its anti-inflammatory properties.
The curcumin, active ingredient of the turmeric, is a very powerful anti-inflammatory. Mixed with black pepper to enhance absorption, studies showed that 2g of turmeric a day for 6 days can give the same effect than some pharmaceutical anti-inflammatory for people suffering from arthritis.
Coconut Oil
Used in the bathroom for its hydrating and soothing properties or even to eliminate germs in the mouth with its antimicrobial functions, it is in the kitchen that we use it the most for its entire medicinal wonder.
As opposed to many other oils, coconut oil is a source of medium-chained triglycerides (MCTs), which are a big reason why coconut oil has so many different benefits for our health.
The MCTs are sent straight to the liver to be converted as a source of energy, helping in different aspects such as keeping a better level of energy during the day, burning calories, weight management in general.
Also, containing natural saturated fats that increase the good HDL cholesterol into the body, a lot of experts will suggest coconut oil as opposed to many other types of fat to lower the risks of heart attack and improve cardiac health.
There are so many ways coconut oil can be used, raw, as salad dressing, cooked. Some people even add it into their morning coffee. It is one of the most versatile superfoods.
There are so many superfood and a lot of diverse ways we can incorporate it to our daily lifestyle. A simple add of spices in our dishes can be preventing a lot of diseases or symptoms in the future. Nature has everything we need to stay healthy, we just need to help at helping us by making the right choices!