By A Special Correspondent

WE KNOW NOW that drinking and eating the right foods regularly makes for better energy, strength and happier people all around. Here are some of the foods you should include in your next grocery list because they have essential age-defying nutrients. Include as many of them as you can in your daily drinking and eating…

VITAMIN E…
(It’s a powerful antioxidant which protects your heart, it blocks free radical damage and molecules which lead to oxidation of LDL or the “bad” cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease. Vitamin E also protects against Alzheimer’s disease, it helps preserve memory and the ability to think quickly and concentrate….)

To be found in almonds, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, sunflower seeds, wheat germ.

VITAMIN C
(Vitamin C is what makes for flexible arteries and a healthy cellular system.. it is often called the vitamin which takes care of the “antioxidant defense network” in the body, you need it on a day-to-day basis and yes, it is lost in food when it is heated or cooked. We need lots of vitamin C, it is the critical vitamin.)

Vitamin C is present in almost all fruits and vegetables with some of them having high levels of the vitamin…blackberries (almost all berries), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, honeydew, kale, kiwis, lemons, mangoes, mustard greens, okra, oranges, papayas, peppers, pineapple, potatoes, raspberries, lettuce, soybean sprouts, strawberries, sweet potatoes, tangerines, tomatoes, turnip greens, watermelon, all the greens available in the Panaji market. Green capsicums are particularly rich in vitamin C as are moong sprouts.

VITAMIN B COMPLEX
(The B vitamins, especially folate, B6 and B12, defend the heart and brain from age-related diseases by keeping levels of a substance called homocysteine low…).

The B vitamins are found in a wide range of foods like wheat germ, bananas, chickpeas, oatmeal, yogurt, potatoes, sunflower seeds, black-eyed peas, broccoli, egg noodles, great northern beans, green peas, orange juice, turnip greens. Brewer’s yeast tablets are generally recommended for vitamin B complex deficiencies.

MONOUNSATURATED FATS
(You may think you’re doing your body a favour by eliminating all fats from your diet, but certain wholesome fats are crucial for healthy aging. A diet rich in monounsaturated fats lowers cholesterol while preserves levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol in your blood, it also lowers triglycerides, high amounts of which contribute to heart disease.)

To be found in almonds, avocados, canola oil, hazelnuts, olives, olive oil, peanut oil, peanuts.

OMEGA-3 FATS
(Omega-3 fats inhibit inflammation, a risk factor for both heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease, it also helps cells in your heart and brain function properly and decrease the risky of arrthymia or irregular heart beat and clotting, all of which adds up to a healthier heart.)

Found in fatty fish, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, walnuts and walnutoil, soybeans and soybean oil.

FIBER
(Fiber is the “broom” which facilitates elimination of waste matter and which helps prevent diabetes and colon cancer, also lowers cholesterol…it slows down digestion and slow digestion means a slower, more moderate release of insulin and a slower rise in blood sugar, all of which lowers incidence of diabetes…fiber in food and water are two key ingredients which prevent constipation and piles. Many of today’s refined and processed junk foods are responsible for modern-day diabetes epidemics in urban populations the world over.)

Fibre can be found in apples with skin, bananas, broccoli, brown rice, Brussels sprouts, figs, green peas, kidney beans, lentils, oatmeal, oranges, pears, potatoes with skin, prunes, raspberries, split peas, strawberries, wheat bran flakes, wholewheat and wholegrain breads, millet rotis, fibre-rich greens.

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