Striving4Zen

- Excellent fats that boost mental clarity, love your liver, and help your heart.

- Protein and fiber

- Selenium. This mineral activates an antioxidant called glutathione peroxidase (really, really good at helping fight free radical oxidation in the body). Some, studies suggest selenium might even help fight cancer.

- Antioxidant E and vitamin A. Since these are fat-soluble vitamins (meaning they only work with fat), nuts are nature’s perfectly engineered delivery systems.

The best nuts:

- Hazelnuts, filberts, Brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds

Less-nutritious (but sort of decent) nuts:

- Peanuts (not actually a nut), pine nuts, cashews

About an ounce a day is a reasonable portion size - think one small handful.

Thanks Mark!

Labels: almonds, Anti-oxidant, brazil nuts, cashews, healthy diet, healthy fats, healthy food, Nuts, peanuts, selenium, Vitamins

Due to Brazil nuts' high selenium content, these nuts can be seen as a "complete" protein source.

This means that, unlike the proteins in most plant products, Brazil nuts' proteins contain all the necessary amino acids to foster optimal growth in humans in the same way as proteins from animal products do. But even animal products, like chicken and beef, don't contain as much selenium as Brazil nuts do.

Selenium is also a powerful antioxidant, which protects against harmful free radicals that may cause heart disease and cancer. Selenium is also important for healthy immunity. And Brazil nuts are also a very good source of zinc (essential to digestion and metabolism).

Eight medium Brazil nuts count as one serving (30 g). Since these nuts are high in fat, they shouldn't be included in the diet more than three times per week. These nuts should also replace other fats in the diet and shouldn't just be added.

Note, however, that, because of its high saturated fat content, Brazil nuts could be a dangerous addition to your diet if you are at risk of heart disease. Rather opt for nuts with less fat, like almonds, if this is the case.

Source

Labels: Anti-oxidant, brazil nuts, health food, healthy diet, Nuts, selenium

Hair growth is affected by many factors, including genetics, age, medications, diseases, and yes, your diet. Like your nails, hair requires a nutrient-rich supply of blood to its follicles. A very low-calorie diet could slow its growth and even cause hair loss. But don't be alarmed by occasional fallout―most of us lose 50 to 100 strands a day.

For the healthiest hair (and body) possible, you should eat a well-balanced diet that includes:

• fatty acids (found in flaxseed oil and cold-water fish like salmon);
• zinc and copper (found in fish, shellfish, meat, and poultry);
• B vitamins (found in eggs, dairy, meat, and whole grains);
• selenium (found in cruciferous vegetables).

Also, keep your hair expectations in check. Typically, healthy hair grows only a half-inch each month, and growth slows with age. In addition, each strand of hair has a life cycle―the length of time it takes to reach maturity, fall out, and be replaced by a new hair―which varies from person to person. If your hair's average life cycle is only two years, it's doubtful that you'll ever have waist-length hair, which would take about six years to grow from a short hair cut.

Source

Labels: b-vitamins, copper, David Zinczenko, eating healthy, fatty acids, healthy diet, healthy hair, selenium

Looking for a food pairing that does more than just intensifies taste and nutrition? Researchers out of the U.K. are suggesting that combining two food components called sulforaphane and selenium — two naturally occurring cancer fighting components found in foods — make them up to 13 times more powerful in attacking cancer together than if they are alone.

OK, so what foods contain these components? Well, foods high in sulforaphane are broccoli, sprouts, cabbage, watercress, and salad rocket (aka arugula). Foods high in selenium include nuts, poultry, fish, eggs, sunflower seeds, and mushrooms. So while we wait for the scientists to learn more, why not sprinkle some mushrooms and/or sunflower seeds onto your arugula? Not only will it be tasty, but the benefits may be hefty in terms of cancer prevention.

Thank you!

Labels: cancer, food as medicine, healthy diet, nutrition, selenium, sulforaphane

We'd only recommend routine consumption of shrimp in its natural, wild form - not the farmed version. Sometimes the shrimp may already be labeled as "wild" or "non-farmed," but you may have to ask some questions and be persistent in order to find out from your grocer whether or not the shrimp you intend to buy have been farmed.

Key problems with shrimp farming involve use of antibiotics and pesticides in the raising of the shrimp. One particular disease - called White Spot Syndrome Virus - can be particularly deadly to shrimp, and for this reason, many shrimp farmers use antibiotics in an attempt to protect the shrimp. Because very small amounts of shrimp entering the U.S. are ever tested for antibiotic residues, their presence is a definite concern in farmed shrimp that have been routinely given antibiotics.

Wild shrimp are very nutrient-rich and low in calories - two of the reasons that we included shrimp on our website as a World's Healthiest Food. It's also very unusual to find a food that is rich in the same combination of nutrients as shrimp - selenium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. Because this particular list of nutrients is often deficient in the U.S. diet, shrimp could play a unique role by "filling in the gaps" for all three nutrients all at once.

That being said, and even if a person was deficient in selenium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12, we would not be sure whether eating shrimp every day would be a good thing. We think balance is important, whether it be because it adds variety to a diet, allows you to enjoy a range of nutrients, and/or reduces the potential for an allergy to form (sometimes people develop a sensitivity to a food when consuming it too much, the reason why corn and wheat are two of the top food allergens in North America).

The other thing about shrimp is that they do contain cholesterol; four ounces of cooked shrimp contains about 220 milligrams of cholesterol. For some people, this isn't an issue, but for others it is. Therefore, we would suggest that while you may want to include wild shrimp in your meal plans as a healthy addition and one that may support healthy weight loss, you may not want to include it every day, but rather alternate it with other nutrient-rich protein sources such as fish and legumes/beans.

Source

Labels: healthy diet, nutrition, selenium, shrimp, Vitamins