By: Juliana Pires Johnson
Our fascination with the connection between the way a food looks, and their good-for-you properties started when we found how great walnuts were for your brain health. Those brain looking nuts… seems perfectly logical! This evidently led us to then explore what other of nature’s perfect foods were trying to tell us, at a glance, about what they could do for us.
Below are our favorites. Use them as a part of your day-to-day health, keep your eye on them, as needed!
WALNUTS – Crack open a walnut and there you have it – a cool mini brain looking nut. Boasting alpha-linolenic acid, which is a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid and containing more polyphenolic compounds than any other nut, these two factors make it the ideal brain food. Walnuts help curb inflammation and counteract oxidative stress, main factors observed in cognitive decline.
Not only do we like to eat walnuts as snacks by the handful (our favorites are the Nutty Gourmet Sea Salt Walnuts, found in our Goods Shop) but we also use Walnut Butter (Artisana Organics being our go-to) in our smoothies. Here is our Banana Walnut Smoothie recipe.
CARROTS – Great to sharpen your eyesight! I’m sure you’ve heard it before and just slice a carrot and you will see what looks like a pupil over and over again. Eat more carrots and you will see them more clearly!
Carrots are very high in antioxidants lutein and beta carotene, critical in protecting eye health. Beta-Carotene is also used by the body to produce Vitamin A, which helps the eyes convert light to a signal sent to the brain, which guess what…. Helps you see better!
BEETS – Beets are great blood cleansers. Get a beet stain on your clothes and you’ll need no convincing that beet bleeds (and stains) like blood! With that rich, deep tone, beautiful, but not as an accidental dye. Fittingly enough, beets are incredible blood purifiers. They contain betalin pigments, which help with detoxification by breaking down toxins bound to other molecules in the body which are then excreted. This purification process cleanses your blood and liver. Additionally, beets are rich in nitrates, which when converted into nitric acid by the body, expands and relaxes blood vessels enabling better nutrient transportation and better circulation.
We love slicing beets onto our salads or roasting them in the oven!
AVOCADO – Slice open an avocado and we will argue that it resembles a uterus, which mirrors it being a recommended “Fertility Food.” Loaded with Vitamin E and healthy fats, essential ingredients for maintaining a healthy uterus and sexual function. Good fats are arguably one of the most important macros for female fertility and the addition of folate, potassium, Vitamins A and E found in avocados make it the perfect food if you are trying to get ready to improve health for carrying a baby and so on.
CELERY STALKS – Celery isn’t our favorite veggie (dipping it in Almond Butter or guacamole helps!) but bone health is definitely a priority. Eating those long, lean, boney stalks does your skeletal structure some good as they are loaded with silicon, a crucial part of the molecular structure for bone strength. Also loaded with sodium (as bone are), one is much like the other!
BROCCOLI – We also love the resemblance of broccoli to our lungs and were excited to find out that they indeed, are key players in maintaining the health of our respiratory systems. Their cleansing properties are beneficial to lung bacteria and compounds in broccoli being studied in treatments for those with lung disease. Until more concrete evidence is shown, we will continue to incorporate this yummy veggie into our diets. We’ve been playing around with broccoli rice, as an alternative to cauliflower rice, and just love eating it raw, dipped in guacamole or roasted as a side dish.