It's not too hard figuring out how to achieve optimum health. It's just common sense really, although some might say this is the least common of all the senses! A positive outlook, appropriate exercise, plenty of pure, unadulterated water and first class nutrition are surefire contributors to good health.

As for nutrition, the top link of the chain are the Superfoods. These are nature's superheroes, bringing health and vitality to the afflicted, like vibrantly coloured berries, the microscopic algae, Chlorella and Spirulina to more common foods such as cabbage, broccoli and nuts etc.

Natures superfoods contain perfect packages of nutrients in the correct ratio's, including many yet to be discovered and studied. These nutrients include enzymes, phytonutrients, anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals for example.

The saddest sight is seeing these foods overprocessed and passed off as healthy in some of our popular breakfast cereals and drinks. It's always best to eat these foods in their natural state, as nature intended. It's odd that added sugar is the number one ingredient in juice drinks when fruit is sweet already. Juicing your own drinks will not only produce a healthier, more natural product, it will also save money.

Lets introduce some of these nutritional titans. Cabbage has been unfairly maligned, but did you know it was considered a cure all by ancient Egyptians? The use of food for medicinal purposes stretches back to antiquity and cruciferous vegetables like kale, cabbage, sprouts and broccoli have been the subject of an impressive amount of research showing their effectiveness in fighting and preventing disease, including cancer. Avocado, apart from being great for the skin, contain high levels of glutathione, the livers most potent antioxidant. Glutathione enhances the elimination of carcinogens and toxins. It is also found in useful quantities in garlic, onions and leeks.

Most superfoods are increasingly easy to find in your local health store or on the Internet. Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah, was a staple food of the Incas, known by them as the mother grain. This grain is rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals as well as an excellent source of complete protein. If this grain helped the Incas run up and down mountains it is sure to do us some good. Why not grab yourself some Goji berries. These special little berries contain 500 times more vitamin C than oranges by weight, and contain a mindblowing array of minerals, vitamins and amino acids. They make a wonderful addition to your superfood arsenal and can be used in smoothies or eaten in an energy packed trail mix with other powerful foods such as cacao nibs and seeds etc

Beetroot is another food offering health benefits. Like all vegetables, try to buy it fresh from a farmers market and avoid the ones saturated in vinegar. In its natural state beetroot is an excellent health enhancer. Also, just two or three Brazil nuts a day will supply your daily requirement of Selenium, a mineral sadly depleted from the soil most of our fruit and vegetables are grown in.

If you desire excellent health, bags of energy and insurance against disease, healthy nutrition offers so much! Be honest, when was the last time you tucked into a bowl of mixed berries or consumed a wholefood meal that actually made you feel great after eating it? Consider including a varied mix of superfoods in your daily diet to benefit from their many health enhancing properties. Variety is the key as each food has its own special properties and no single food has everything your body needs. Eat a rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green and blue and you can't go far wrong, unless they are artificial colours of course!!

Eating a variety of whole, natural foods will far surpass the benefits of even the most potent multivitamin tablet and may include many, as yet undiscovered, nutrients and phytonutrients. Yes, that's right, natural foods include everything, leaving man made tablets, which cannot match God's bounty, in the dust. With this in mind doesn't it make perfect sense to make nutrition and superfoods a cornerstone in your quest for great health.

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