6 foods you and your family need to eat often

Garlic spinach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many of us have become with Dr. Oz through the years and know that he is always giving us great recipes, advice and information on how to take better care of our bodies. This list is a few things he says we need every day.

1. Garlic- What's not to love about garlic? In addition to the wonderful flavor it imparts on so many of our favorite dishes, garlic is used the world over for it's medicinal properties. Garlic is a natural antibiotic, fights high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and has cancer fighting abilities as well. 
2. Tomatoes and/or paste- You want to  aim for at least 10 tablespoons a week.  Beware many commercially prepared sauces have excess preservatives, sugars and additives that you do not need. Ideally the best sauce is the ones that have had the least amount of processing. Look for sauces and pastes that are 100% USDA organic, certified Kosher, and Vegan which means it will be gluten free.
3. Olive Oil- Olive oil  should be kept in a dark bottle/container in your refrigerator.
   Do not fry foods in Olive oil as the heated oil loses any benefits you may want to gleam from it. Olive oil should be used and treated as a condiment and used to flavor foods that are already cooked or raw. Instead of cooking food in Olive oil, choose another healthy cooking oil.
4. Spinach- How many ways is spinach healthy, let me count the ways..just be sure you've got nothing better to do for the rest of the day. That's because spinach is considered a super food and with good reason. Here are just a few things to know about spinach and why you should have it as often as possible.  Spinach is full of Flavonoids -- a phytonutrient that has anti-cancer properties.  These phytonutrients have been shown to slow down cell division in the stomach and in skin cancer cells. And for the fellows out there spinach has proven to be a  significant guard against aggressive prostate cancer. The list goes on to show that spinach is helpful with inflammation, lowers blood pressure, eye sight issues related to age like macular degeneration, and cataracts. The high levels of vitamin A also help with all sorts of skin maladies including wrinkles, acne and other things that rob us of our youthful appearance.
   
5. Almonds- Always opt for raw unroasted Almonds. Roasted nuts are heat damaged and the nutritive and healthy attributes are thereby damaged. Always keep your raw Almonds and nuts  in the refrigerator to ensure freshness. Almonds are great for your heart, prevention of prostate cancer, blood sugar issues, inflammation, lowering cholesterol, and more.
6. Pomegranate- Pomegranate juice is a natural source of polyphenols and other antioxidants including tannins and anthocyanidins. These antioxidants guard against the damaging effects of free radicals, unstable molecules that attack cells and may lead to numerous health concerns and premature aging.

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