Top 5 superfoods worth keeping in the kitchen
Leading nutritionist and Blackmores influencer, Dr Joanna McMillan, reveals here the top five superfoods that are worth keeping in the pantry.
1. Kale
It’s hard to find a café these days that doesn’t have something containing kale on the menu, and for good reason. Its dark green leaves even look super healthy, so it's no surprise they contain high levels of many beneficial nutrients such as iron and vitamin C. Any dark leafy greens do the trick and are a must – think spinach, rocket, silver beet – I try to get them into at least two of my meals every day. These are the kinds of everyday super foods that I think are really great for us.
2. Broccoli
Not all superfoods are recent arrivals to our health food stores and supermarkets. We've all grown up with broccoli on our plates, and sometimes wished it wasn't there. Knowing what we know now about broccoli, this attitude has changed, and our fantastic ways of preparing it today are a far cry from the overcooked methods of yesteryear. Its bacterial fighting properties and high Vitamin K content make broccoli one of our most important superfoods.
Cooking your broccoli, as opposed to eating it raw, also helps the body to get more of the nutrition out of the vegetable, that is then absorbed into the bloodstream and can then be of benefit elsewhere in the body.
3. Yoghurt
Make sure you opt and look for natural yoghurt though, and not sweetened or flavoured yoghurts. No one really ever thinks of yoghurt as a superfood, but the natural, unsweetened variety is great for protein, probiotics and calcium – a mineral that many people are short on.
4. Chia Seeds
These tiny seeds are in all sorts of supermarket products now, from chocolate bars to sliced bread. To make sure you are getting their full superfood benefits, pick sources of chia seeds that do not also contain high levels of sugar or saturated fat. Chia seeds are high in omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamins B & C and soluble fibre. I absolutely love chia – I’ve been using the Blackmores Raw Chia with Nature Boost Superfood in my breakfast a lot lately!
5. Nuts
Nuts are a fantastic source of nutrition and magnesium too, which is required for muscles to contract and to work and to move. Magnesium has a key role in sports performance especially, crucial for athletes. It’s also been studied for its role in sleep, so adding a selection of nuts to your daily diet is a fantastic way of adding more magnesium into your diet.
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