5 Healthy Foods You Are Not Eating
Bored with broccoli and spinach? Toss in these unusual healthy foods to spice up your disease-fighting eating plan
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring. Although choices from the produce aisles may not seem as much as the entire floor of beautifully packaged junk food, there are still unexplored gems to be found elsewhere.
Thanks to a global common market, we now have access to a much bigger selection of foods from countries we’ve never been, sometimes just with a click of a few buttons.
Here we look at five options that may add some much-needed variations to your meals.
1. Purslane
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What is this? Purslane, or Portulaca oleracea, is a plant that is eaten in Asia, Europe, Mexico and the Middle East. In the US, it’s classified as a weed, which may explain why it’s relatively unknown. -
Why is this a healthy food? Purslane is a potent anti-oxidizing and anti-inflammatory herb. It has the highest amount of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) — a heart-healthy omega-3 fats — of any leafy plants, yielding about 300 to 400 mg of ALA per 100 g. Compared to spinach, purslane has seven times more vitamin E, and also higher amounts of vitamin C and glutathione (an antioxidant that is found naturally in many foods).
Oral lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory auto-immune disease that affects mucous membranes inside the mouth, including the gums and tongue. In one study, 83% of oral lichen planus patients who received purslane showed partial to complete recovery, a marked improvement from the 17% registered in the placebo group.
Known as 马齿苋 in Chinese, this herb is classified as cooling by traditional Chinese medicine physicians and is used to treat intestinal inflammatory disorder (dysentery) and bleeding of the genito-urinary tract among other uses.
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How to eat purslane: Purslane leaves and stems are succulent and chewy, with a mild sour taste. Stir-fry them, toss some into a bowl of salad, or juice them with other fruits and vegetables to add variety to your diet. In Singapore, purslane can be found in wet markets. In other non-Asian countries such as the US, look for it at Chinese or Mexican market, as well as well-stocked health food stores.
2. Basil Seeds
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What is this? You’re probably familiar with basil as a culinary as well as medicinal herb, but do you know that seeds from some species of basil can be eaten too? Also known as selasih seeds or tukmaria seeds, when these tiny black seeds are soaked in water, they swell up and become mucilaginous, forming an translucent jell-like membrane around each seed (“Frog eggs, Mum!”). Basil seeds are commonly found in Asian drinks and desserts in countries like India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. -
Why is this a healthy food? Despite its common use in Asia, many people are unaware of the benefits of basil seeds. But, in the past, basil seeds were used at homes to relieve indigestion, sore throat, constipation and diarrhea. Even today, basil seeds are served in sugar syrup drinks during Muslim fasting month to replenish lost nutrients. Due to the high mucilage and fiber content, basil seeds also help to induce satiety, slow down the body’s conversion of starch into sugar, promote bowel movement, and reduce the absorption of toxins in the gut. Unfortunately, there are hardly any clinical studies on the potential healing effects of basil seeds. Existing studies mainly centered on the use of these seeds to remove heavy metals and radioactive substances from polluted water.
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How to eat basil seeds: Most Asian desserts and drinks containing basil seeds are loaded with sugar that negate any goodness these tiny seeds may bring. Don’t make the same mistake! Basil seeds can be added into your favorite juice, tea, or dessert, or sprinkled on top of salad. But do remember to soak them in cold or hot water for about an hour beforehand to puff them up. Basil seeds can be bought from Asian grocery stores, as well as online retailers such as Amazon.
3. Yumberry
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What is this? Also known as Chinese bayberry and 杨梅 in Chinese, yumberry is a fruit that is predominantly grown in China. There are red, pale yellow as well as dark red-purple yumberries, with the crimson ones being the most common. Yumberry has a rather unique knobby exterior and can grow to as big as 4cm in diameter. The flesh of yumberry is both sweet and tart. -
Why is this a healthy food? Yumberry is an excellent thirst quencher due to its sweet-and-sour taste. Its acidity also aids digestion and eases discomfort caused by overeating. Red and dark colored yumberries also contain oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC), which are pigments that give the berries their color. OPCs are thought to act as antioxidants in the body and help to fight free radicals and support the metabolic, immune and cardiovascular systems. But as the Chinese believed that the yumberry is warm in nature, it should be consumed in moderation by people who are prone to ‘heatiness’.
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How to eat yumberry? Besides eaten as fresh fruits, yumberries are also preserved and eaten as snacks. Yumberries can also be dried, canned or fermented into an alcoholic drink. In recent years, yumberries have also been developed into various health products, including yumberry juice, tea and supplement.
4. Dragon Fruit
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What is this? Dragon fruit, or pitaya and strawberry pear, is a thick-skinned fruit produced by cactus plants from the Hylocereus species. In Asia, it’s known as dragon fruit because the red color fruit resembles a dragon’s flaming fireball, though yellow-skinned pitayas can be found too. But in case you thought pitaya is native to Asia, it’s not. The cacti that bear dragon fruits are actually indigenous to southern Mexico, the Pacific side of Guatemala and Costa Rica, and El Salvador, but are now commercially cultivated in many parts of Asia. The flesh of dragon fruit can be either white or deep red in color, both containing lots of small edible seeds that look similar to those in a kiwi. -
Why is this a healthy food? A check on Wikipedia reveals that dragon fruit is rich in vitamin C, calcium, phosphorous and fiber. According to a report, dragon fruit also contains beta-carotene, lycopene as well as vitamin E, and may also be a potential source of prebiotics that promote beneficial gut bacteria. But like everything else in life, consumption of dragon fruit should not be excessive as its seeds are equally rich in omega-6 fatty acids (mainly linoleic acids), which may upset the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory compounds in the body if present in excess. Note that eating red-fleshed dragon fruit may cause one’s urine and stool to take on a reddish hue. This temporary discoloration is temporary and will subside in a day or so.
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How to eat dragon fruit? Dragon fruit is best eaten raw. It doesn’t have a strong odor, has a mild sweet taste (red-fleshed pitaya tends to be sweeter) and goes well with almost any food. It can be found in many Asian countries as well as its places of origin. Elsewhere, try the Asian stores and local farmer’s market. Pitaya-bearing cactus is a plant that requires relatively low water, fertilizer and pesticides, though it doesn’t tolerate cold very well. If you’re adventurous enough, you can get dragon fruit seeds online to plant it right in your own backyard.
5. Fermented Black Garlic
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What is this? Literally charcoal black in color, fermented black garlic is what you get when you leave regular garlic to ferment between seventy to eighty degrees Celsius for a month or more. -
Why is this a healthy food? Garlic as we know it is a food as well as a herbal medicine used in the ancient times as well as today. And some of its health benefits come from the rich supply of sulfur compounds, such as allicin and s-allylcysteine. These compounds protect cells, cholesterol and blood vessels from oxidative damage and inflammation which when left unchecked, can increase the risk of cardiovascular problems such as atherosclerosis and heart attack. Black fermented garlic reportedly has more antioxidants and higher free radical scavenging activities than raw garlic.
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How to eat fermented black garlic? The taste of fermented black garlic is unlike the garlic you’re familiar with. Tenderly soft, a melt-in-your-mouth texture, plus a distinct absence of spicy and pungent flavor. But most importantly, it has a sweetness that’s not found in raw garlic. So you can eat it as a snack without fearing of garlic breadth. Alternatively, include it in your cooking to add a complex and sweet flavor to your meal. Whichever way you use it, some black cloves on your dinner table will likely become a conversation piece among your guests! Aged fermented garlic is available in cloves as well as capsules from brick-and-mortar and online health stores.
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