1. Sardines
Turn offs: Strong fishy taste. Tiny bones. Can be packed in tomato sauce. Reputation as a frugality food.
Turn ons: High in vitamin D and loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which protect your heart and brain. Lots of protein, calcium and selenium. Low on the marine food chain so toxins such as like mercury don’t accumulate. Inexpensive. Portable when canned.
How to eat them: Avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil, which are high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. Try “a squeeze of lemon, toasted red chile, extra virgin olive oil and mixed green herbs over garlicky al dente whole wheat fettucine,” said Dr. John LaPuma, a chef and the medical director for the Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight. Or buy the kind dressed up with mustard or pesto.
2. Beets
Turn offs: Earthy flavor, slippery texture, can turn urine a startling pink color (a phenomenon called “beeturia”). Dissed by President Barack Obama and excluded from the White House garden.
Turn ons: An excellent liver tonic and blood purifier. Beets have both betaine and folate which work to reduce homocystein, a naturally occurring amino acid that can be harmful to blood vessels, said nutrition expert Jonny Bowden in his book, the “150 healthiest Foods on Earth.” High in potassium, which is also important for heart health. Contains the most sugar of any vegetable, yet is low in calories.
How to eat them: Baked, broiled, steamed or shredded raw and added to salads. Borscht is a traditional Russian beet soup. The leaves have even more nutritional value than the roots.
3. Licorice
Turn offs: Strong tart taste and smell.
Turn ons: Licorice root — the herb, not the candy — is known for having a soothing effect on mucus membranes in the throat, lungs and bronchial tubes. It can also be used to treat everything from athlete’s foot to ulcers, according to James Duke, the former chief of the Medicinal Plant Resources Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
How to eat it: Buy it as a standardized herb and add it as a sweetener to aromatic teas, suggested Duke, the author of “The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods.” But long-term use has side effects; don’t use it regularly for longer than six weeks and don’t take it if you’re pregnant or under medical care.
4. Wheatgrass
Turn offs: Wretched taste and smell. Considered a pet food. Grass clippings take a while to get used to.
Turn ons: So easy to grow you can raise your own in a small space at your office desk. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll. “A blade of wheatgrass is far more nutrient-dense, calorie for calorie, than the grain of wheat from which it sprouts, writes David Sandoval in “The Green Foods Bible.”
How to eat it: Must be juiced; drink no more than 4 ounces a day try to mask the nasty taste by mixing with apple juice.
Find the rest here.
Beets? A turn off? Really?? How can you not love something that can turn your insides red? And “roasted” really needs to be added to the “How To Eat” list. A drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and a 425F oven for 30 minutes (assuming the beets are roughly 2″ cubes). Yum!
You can keep the sardines. urg!