Super foods!
Arati Rajan Menon raises a toast to your health — and tastebuds — with 10 accessible, affordable foods
The wellness revolution has been accompanied by a barrage of information on how to live, ways to exercise and, most important, what to eat. Every day, newspapers announce the discovery of an anti-ageing or health-boosting superfood — either to be consumed or used as active ingredients in foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics and creams. The lifestyle magazines are quick to join the chorus, regaling us with the merits of these almost mystical substances that usually come from far-flung corners of the world or are grown in rarefied circumstances. All of this is used to explain their exorbitant price-tags; if you are fortunate enough to live in a big city, of course. (Have you chanced upon an açaí berry lately?)
While the health and even cosmetic benefits of many of these foods are undeniable, all the brouhaha sometimes causes us to neglect what’s right under our noses, or in our refrigerators. And that’s why, although we continue to tell readers about every ‘special’ food — from the now mundane blueberries and kiwifruit that are available at fancy supermarkets to antioxidant-loaded açaí berries from Central America and noni berries from the South Pacific, wrinkle-busting dragon fruit from Southeast Asia and the Americas, the kacip fatimah plant from Malaysia that guards reproductive health, and even pig’s trotters from Japan that boost collagen — the recipes you see every month in the magazine tend to feature commonplace, dare we say even unglamorous, foods. For instance, potassium-rich figs that prevent physical degeneration, Vitamin C-laden oranges that boost immunity, and protein and calcium-packed cottage cheese that helps prevent osteoporosis and joint pain are all foods that have been part of our kitchens for generations. Yet they have the power to do wonders for our bodies.
Indeed, in a time when ‘cattle class’ is the new limousine, these are Harmony’s headliners: accessible, affordable foods that pack a nutritional punch. We pick out 10 favourites, backed by the latest scientific research — along with delicious ways to eat them from people in the know.
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