By Susan Smith Jones, PhD

Get your new, healthy lifestyle off to a great start with these 12 age-defying, stress-busting, heart-strengthening, cancer-busting, energy-boosting and body-slimming Superfoods

All of these Superfoods are easy to find in your supermarket or natural food store. Also, just make sure that they are included and available in your health-promoting kitchen.

Parsnips

Parsnips could be nicknamed the “beauty food” because of the way their nutritional components help strengthen hair and nails and improve skin quality. People who suffer from acne or skin disorders will appreciate the skin-flattering benefits of their unique balance of potassium, phosphorus and vitamin C.

Avocados

Avocados have more protein than any other fruit. Sometimes known as “nature’s butter,” they have only about a quarter of the fat calories contained in the same weight of dairy butter. Ounce for ounce, they also provide more heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, folate, potassium and fiber than other fruits. You can mash avocado on whole grain bread, into baked potatoes and even use it as a hydrating mask. They also exceed other fruits as a source of the powerful antioxidant lutein, which appears to protect arteries from hardening and the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.

Pomegranates

This dark red fruit is hot news these days — especially as a juice. Pomegranates are packed full of disease-fighting antioxidants. Some studies suggest that they offer almost three times more than established antioxidant sources such as green tea, red wine, blueberry juice and cranberry juice. They also contain potassium, fiber, vitamin c and niacin, all of which contribute to increased energy and good health, and have been shown to reduce plaque build-up in arteries by up to 44 percent.

Bananas

Monkeys may be wiser than we think — their favorite food is among the most nutritious of tropical fruits. Fiber from green, unripe bananas reduces bad cholesterol and increases the good by as much as 30 percent, while a ripe banana is one of the best ways to soothe an upset stomach. Bananas are a wonderful source of energy, can relieve heartburn and will also help decrease the risk of stroke. And with the possible exception of strawberries, no other fresh fruit is higher in minerals.

Broccoli

Broccoli has almost twice as much protein as steak — 11.2 g per 100 calories compared with only 5.4 g. (Most of the calories in meat come from fat, but the calories in green veggies come from protein.) Broccoli is one of nature’s most potent Superfoods. It has been proved effective against cancer, heart disease and a host of other serious conditions. Its powerful sulforaphane content delivers a double punch to cancer-causing chemicals — destroying any carcinogenic compounds that you have ingested, then creating enzymes that eat up any carcinogens left over from that reaction — and it also contains indole-3-carbinol, which helps your body to metabolize estrogen, potentially warding off breast cancer.

Apples

Eating an apple a day could very well keep the cardiologist away. Current studies suggest that eating apples regularly reduces the risk of stroke and your chances of dying from a heart attack. They lower cholesterol and also appear to decrease the risk of lung cancer. Eating them whole, with the skin on, provides the highest level of nutritional value.

Parsley

This common herb is a powerhouse of the nutrients that rejuvenate and detoxify. Include it when you make fresh juice. Nibble a few leaves when you want your breath to be sweeter. Chop it into salads, soups, sandwiches and pasta dishes. Parsley is also a stress-buster, and studies have shown it to be effective in reducing depression, lowering cholesterol and strengthening kidneys. Many herbalists recommend parsley to relieve the symptoms of rheumatism and PMS.

Cinnamon

This ancient spice (obtained from the bark of Asian evergreens) and highly versatile flavoring helps to relieve bloating and stabilize blood sugar. Cinnamon contains methylhydroxy chalcone polymer (MHCP), which speeds up the processing of sugar in your body. So putting cinnamon sticks in your tea or water, or sprinkling just a tiny amount on desserts, fruits, cereal and into smoothies, will make your insulin release much more efficient, which may slow aging and help ward off diabetes and obesity.

Oats

Inexpensive, readily available and incredibly easy to incorporate into your life, oats contain twice as much protein as brown rice and are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates to maintain your energy levels through the day. They improve your resistance to stress, help to regulate the thyroid, soothe the nervous and digestive systems, reduce cigarette cravings and stabilize blood sugar levels.

Garlic

Herbalists have used garlic to treat all sorts of diseases for thousands of years. As well as being scrumptious, it’s a rich source of the sulphur compounds that keep your body chemistry in balance — fighting infections, slowing down the production of cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. There is even evidence that garlic helps to fight cancer and improves the action of the liver and the gall bladder. Add garlic to your cooking and salad dressings, or roast unpeeled cloves for 40-45 minutes, then peel and mash them into purées and sauces.

Tomatoes

This beautiful low-calorie fruit is jam-packed with nutrients and phytochemicals, which boost the body’s immune defenses. Whether in soups, sauces or salads, tomatoes are rich in vitamins C and B and also contain lots of lycopene, which appears to act as a protective factor against cancer (and may also benefit the heart). Cooked tomatoes contain more lycopene than raw, and most of the nutritional value is contained in the skin, so, ounce for ounce, cherry tomatoes are more nutritious than large ones.

Almonds

Two ounces of almonds give you more than 50 percent of your daily magnesium requirement—a mineral that’s important fro heart health. Eating almonds every day for at least a month has been shown to reduce cholesterol and lower other risk factors for heart disease. A study also suggests that they may reduce the risk of colon cancer. Sprinkle them in salads or grind into pastry.

© Excerpted from Susan’s 3-book healthy eating and living series published by Hay House—The Healing Power of NatureFoods, Health Bliss and Recipes for Health Bliss.

BIO: For more than three decades, Susan Smith Jones, Ph.D., has been one of the world’s most recognizable names and faces in the fields of holistic health and sacred, balanced living. She taught health and fitness at UCLA for 30 years, travels worldwide as a motivational speaker, and is the author of over 25 books, including her latest “healthy eating & lifestyle” books The Healing Power of NatureFoods, Be Healthy~Stay Balanced, Recipes for Health Bliss, The Joy Factor, Herbs: Nature’s Medicine Chest, Choose to Live Peacefully and Health Bliss. To order her books or her audio programs, or to invite her to give a motivational talk to your company or business, please call: 1.800.843.5743 PT or visit: SusanSmithJones.com or SusansRemedies.com.

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