Introduction to Super Food Book

For most of my life, I never gave foods a second thought, either I liked them or I didn’t. I expect that many young people make the same mistake. In this respect, most 16-year-olds cannot conceive of the possibility that they will ever a senior citizen having wrinkled skin, white hair and walk with a cane. But, baring a fatal accident or an early death from cancer or heart disease, most young people will now live into their eighties or nineties, in some countries, even their hundreds. The quality of life they will enjoy, when they reach their elder years, will primarily depend on two factors. First, how rigorously have they exercised during their life time. Without a doubt, a demanding persistent exercise program is a key to living a long, healthy and productive life. Of equal importance, I would argue, are the dietary decisions we make throughout our lives, especially early on when we are young and oblivious to the fact that we might live to be an oxygenarian. This book is designed to be a wake-up call for younger people who may not understand that what they eat in their thirties, forties and fifties can play a significant role in how they will spend their lives as senior citizens. It’s one thing to live to be 90 in a state of dementia, and quite another to be a septuagenarian who spends his days working at the computer, playing golf or tending a garden. Yes, cutting down on the consumption of red meat in our diets is every bit as important as the time we spend on the exercise bike or jogging. Eliminating unhealthy foods like beefsteak and bacon entirely from our diets may not be necessary, but cutting down on their consumption makes a world of sense from a nutritional standpoint. In this respect, Seventh Day Adventist males who adhere to a vegetarian diet live 7.28 years longer than the average non-vegetarian males while their female counterparts live, on average, 4.42 years longer than females who regularly consume meat. Along these same lines, it will come as no surprise to the reader that vegan men and women, on average, weigh 32 and 34 pounds less, respectively, than their meat eating counterparts. Interestingly, vegan men and women die of the same conditions that kill meat eaters, they just live longer more productive lives before succumbing to the inevitable. Having said this, the purpose of Superfoods is not to stress the importance of a vegan diet; rather, it is to emphasize the fact that there are significant differences in the nutritional value of the foods we consume on a daily basis. In this respect, the ORAC value (the ability of a food to rid the body of the free radicals that cause premature aging, heart disease and cancer) of black currants is almost twice that of red currants. Similarly, the ORAC value of purple cabbage is four times that of the green variety. There are few exceptions to the general rule that the darker the color of a fruit or vegetable the more nutritious it will be for the consumer, even though they cost the same at the market. This book concentrates on Superfoods because they are particularly nutritious and often unknown to the consumer. In this respect, most people have never tasted a Goji berry, arguably, the most healthful food on the planet. This berry is literally “good for everything that ails you”. Unfortunately, Goji berries are difficult to find and extremely pricy. The answer to this dilemma is simple, grow your own Goji berries; this book tells you how do it. In fact, most of the Superfoods discussed in this book are easy to grow and the reader can save a significant amount of money by growing his own spinach rather than spending $4.00 for a head of relatively non-nutritious lettuce at the supermarket. Even if one does not have the space for a garden the reader will be able to live a longer and healthier life simply by knowing that a purple head of cabbage is more nutritious than its green counterpart. Similarly, when buying a bunch of beats, how many of us throw away the beet greens, not realizing that these colorful greens are more nutritious than the beets themselves. This book is literally packed with nutritional tips, such as these, which will help you live a longer, healthier and productive life. We will begin our journey by describing the nutritional value of the wide variety of berries we eat. Some, like blue berries and strawberries, are well known and readily available; others like Goji berries and the Cape gooseberries are less well known and, for the most part, not readily available at the local food store or the farmer’s market. However, they both are easy to grow as are most of the foods discussed in this book. In part 2, we will explore the world of leafy green vegetables. Finally, in part three, we will investigate the nutritional benefits of the fruits we eat. I know you will profit from this journey through the world of nutritional delights. We begin the excursion with a tour through the berry kingdom.