Food You Should Be Eating Part 2

I bet you now enjoys the occasional choclate (dark, bitter with no less than 70% cocoa solid) better now after reading my Part 1. I hope you do the same for pumpkins and eggs too, for they are truly peasant priced food with king-sized nutritions. Continuing to this series, here are more food that ought to be in your daily diet and that you should eat them.

4. Broccoli
There is a reason why your mum always ask you to eat your greens. Broccoli, while not native in Malaysia, are often sold and bought in market due to the nutrition it packs per serving. At 30kcal/serving (roughly about half a cup), it provides up to 30mg of Vitamin C. That is already 100% more than required daily. It is loaded with anti-cancer properties and study by John Hopkins in 1992 confirms that eating broccoli will help to prevent cancer by 60% and reduce the tumor size by 75%.

The anti-cancer phytochemical known as sulforaphane and indo-3-carbinol is readily available in this vegetable. Reccomended cooking would be steaming or stir fry, which will retain the most sulforphane. Other benefit of broccoli are boosting immune system, lower the incidences of cataracts and even help to support the cardiovascular system. Easily available and cooked, this vegetable should be a staple in many household or when you are eating out.
One serving of Broccoli provides up to 30mg of Vitamin C. That is already 100% more than required daily.

5. Coconut
Wait. Am i trying to pull a fast one on you readers? Coconut? What about all the talk that the coconut cream (santan) is bad for you? Coconut does live up to the name of "a tree with 1000 uses". The fruit, or what we know as coconut has white meat inside which differs in thickness as the fruit matures. Young fruit will have thin gel-like meat while a more matured fruit will have thicker creamier meat. The water in the coconut, known as juice is the best isotonic drink one could have. Forget those carbonated or flavoured isotonic drinks, coconut juice (or water) is the best to replenish all the lost salt and stay hydrated. Believe me when i say that coconut water worked so well during World War 2 as IV drip replacement! How is that for  thought?
If that is not convincing enough, the water contains many natural enzyme to aid digestion. Eating coconut meat will provide medium chain triglycerides (MCT) that can be utilised by the body like carbohydrates. It is known to lower bad cholestrol and elevate good cholestrol level - a step towards healthy cardiovascular system. When consuming the meat, you are essentially taking in the oil as well. Squeezing the meat (usually, after it is grated, then heated or mixed with milk, then squeezed) will produce coconut cream. The rich taste is because of the coconut oil. if you leave a correctly processed coconut milk in the fridge, the oil will separate to the top - this oil is known as the virgin coconut oil which is pure and as good grade as a canola oil or light oil such as olive oil. Caution should be taken that this coconut milk or cream is only applicable (nutrition wise) if they are processed at home. Commercially available coconut milk/cream has a lot of thickening agent, including transfat and food modifier and preservatives. Avoid. Fresh milk/cream, however, is the exception. How you can heave a sigh of relief to have your red bean soup with the coconut cream! Yummy!

6. Tomato
Whichever way you want to pronounce it, it is essentially the same. I am refering to the US and UK way of pronouncing this superfood that is easily available in any market. They are easy to grow as well if you have the space and knowledge on how to do it. Tomato is rich with lycopene, a natural and powerful antioxidant. Just like Chia seeds, tomato was cultivated by the Mayans and was used as a superfood. At 18kcal per 100gram (or about 3 medium sized portion), they are giving you reasons to eat more without loading on the calories! Choose a redder tomato as they are higher in lycopene, which gives them the characteristic color.
They are also a good source of potassium which are able to reduce the amount of sodium in the body to lessen water retention. Best eaten raw (and often not eaten enough in our diet) and not just as a garnish in a dish. Should you have a custom sandwich made to order, get them to pile in a few more slices of this vegetable to pump in those anti-oxidant!. Alternatively, should eating tomato doesn't appeal to you much, using the puree (with no sodium added - i.e. as pure as possible), is a good choice or replacement to the whole tomato. But if you know me, i would say "take them whole as they are, seeds and all!".