Striving4Zen

The largest USDA study of food antioxidants reveals common beans are among the best sources. Researchers with the USDA analyzed antioxidant levels in over 100 different foods. Base upon the results, the USDA has provided a list of the top 20 ranking of foods by antioxidant capacity.

USDA Ranking of Foods by Antioxidant Capacity

1 Small Red Bean (dried) Half cup: 13727
2 Wild blueberry 1 cup: 13427
3 Red kidney bean (dried) Half cup: 13259
4 Pinto bean Half cup: 11864
5 Blueberry (cultivated) 1 cup: 9019
6 Cranberry 1 cup (whole): 8983
7 Artichoke (cooked) 1 cup (hearts): 7904
8 Blackberry 1 cup: 7701
9 Prune Half cup: 7291
10 Raspberry 1 cup: 6058
11 Strawberry 1 cup: 5938
12 Red Delicious apple One: 5900
13 Granny Smith apple One: 5381
14 Pecan 1 ounce: 5095
15 Sweet cherry 1 cup: 4873
16 Black plum One: 4844
17 Russet potato (cooked) One: 4649
18 Black bean (dried) Half cup: 4181
19 Plum One: 4118
20 Gala apple One: 3903

Source

Labels: Anti-oxidant, fruits and veggies, healthy diet, healthy eating, sea beans

Languishing in cardboard boxes near the mushroom sections in local Fairway stores these next few weeks are Sea Beans, mysterious short stalks of a dark green vegetable, looking like something you might find washed up on the beach, but maybe a bit more edible.
According to Elizabeth Schneider’s Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, Sea Beans (aka Salicornia) grow wild in warmer months all over- in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. “Salicornia is not seaweed, as it is often described,” she writes, “nor is it a cactus, which it slightly resembles.”
Eaten raw or cooked, its flavor can best be described as sea salty intense, with a sort of grassy asparagus aftertaste. When fresh, Sea Beans are crunchy like snap peas. At the tail end of their one-week refrigerator shelf life, older sea beans can be revived with a five-minute soak in ice water. In addition to their current availability at Fairway (a pricey $8.99 per ½ pound), farm-raised boxes of the vegetable show up every June at NY greenmarkets, often leaving perplexed customers headed for more conventional items like pretty garlic scapes, or local strawberries.

Labels: health food, new product, sea beans