Article By: Johnny Fontana

Never before has so much emphasis been placed on our country’s weight and overall health. At the same time, we are now more overweight and less healthy than ever before. Over 30% of the population is considered obese, a number that has doubled in the last 30 years. A decent amount of our country’s youth is expected to die before their parents, due to health issues developed from being overweight. It is obvious that we are facing a major crisis and to think that it’s all because of food is tragic.

I truly believe that one of the biggest issues with our diet is the lack of fiber content. Our ancestors were getting upwards of 100 grams of fiber in their diet each day, while we on average get just over 10.

Lack of fiber can be directly correlated with many health-related diseases and issues that can develop over time. Fiber does so many wonderful things for the body, but we are set up for trouble when we only get a third of what is recommended (30g) each day.

Why So Good?

Fiber

Beans are one of the most densely packed, fibrous foods on the planet. One cup will give you between 11 to 17g of fiber. The fiber in turn works as a major health booster and illness fighter. High-fiber diets put you at less risk for a heart attack or colon cancer. The fiber also helps to regulate blood-sugar levels and ensures you are more insulin-sensitive (a good thing).

Protein

But beans don’t just boast a high amount of fiber. They also offer a hefty serving of protein as well. A cup of beans will usually get you around 15g of protein. Between the fiber and the protein in each serving, your blood and nutrient flow will be working in optimal conditions.

Micronutrients

Along with the quality macronutrient benefits from the fiber and protein, the micro nutrients in beans are also stellar. Beans have about half the folate, tryptophan and manganese that is recommended of each daily. You also will find nearly 200% the daily value (DV) of a compound called molybdenum. Although there aren’t necessarily any major health benefits to molybdenum, having a deficiency can lead to health issues, and few food are as rich in molybdenum as beans. You will also find about 20% the DV of iron in a cup of beans, which is crucial, especially for females.

Pack A Punch

For just over 200 calories, beans are surely worth more than their weight. 15 grams of fiber, 15 grams of protein, no sugar and only 1 gram of fat sounds pretty good to me.

How To Eat?

You can either cook beans on your own or buy some canned beans. Cooking them is a bit of a pain and if you are anything like me (ADD) you will forget that you are cooking them and screw them up. I like to buy canned beans but usually strain them to get rid of the high amounts of sodium that is typical in canned beans. As a general rule of thumb, the blacker the bean, the sweeter the juice (darker the better).

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Article By: Johnny Fontana

I remember watching “Popeye the Sailor” at my grandfather’s house when I was a little kid.  Even though I was born decades after the show originally launched, I still grew up watching the show.

I think we all know that Popeye is famous for slamming down a can of spinach in order to win his girl Olive back, but did you ever think of the cultural impact this image made?  In a day and age where cartoon characters are more likely to be seen chomping down a fast-food hamburger or drinking a soda, we have lost track of the importance of someone like Popeye. As Popeye began to fade off the television screen, whole foods began to fade off of our nation’s dinner plates. It is funny (actually it’s kind of depressing) that this sailor who lived in a garbage can may have literally been holding one of the keys to health. Popeye may have depended on spinach to provide him with super strength, but it also boasts a whole host of other health benefits as well.

Why So Good?

Power Packed

Last month the first spinach season of the year began, marking a time when it is most widely abundant and tastiest. Words like antioxidants and phytonutrients are tossed around quite often these days by people who hope to sound like they know something about nutrition. But when talking about spinach, it is hard to avoid using those terms — spinach boasts at least 13 different flavonoids, packed with antioxidant and anticancer benefits.

Cancer Fighting

The anticancer benefits of spinach have gotten a ton of attention by researchers. Neoxanthin is a carotenoid that has been linked to fighting prostate cancer. Neoxanthin has shown to prevent cancer cells from reproducing and in some cases even cause cancer cells to self-destuct. Spinach is also very rich in kaempferol, which has been linked to preventing ovarian cancer.

Get Your Vitamins

Of all the vitamins we talk about, vitamin K may get the least amount of recognition. The fact that vitamin K helps build and maintain strong bones should not ignored. One cup of spinach holds about 180% the daily recommended amount of vitamin K.

What Else?

The lutein in spinach is fantastic for eye sight, iron (35% DV) is fantastic for women and vitamin E is very beneficial to the brain. You will also find some Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, folate and manganese in spinach. And at only 7 calories per serving, spinach is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet.

How To Eat?

Go O

Some may be resistant to try spinach after the E. coli scare that happened a few years ago.  People should not worry, however, because that e. coli outbreak was most likely the result of animal waste.  Purchase organic spinach to be safe, as those who grow spinach by conventional means do not do a great job of protecting their crop. You should still wash the leaves even if you buy it bagged, like you would with salads.

Cook It Up

Other than that, you can boil, sauté or eat spinach raw. It proves as a great side to an entree or can be the base for a dinner salad. I personally love a spinach salad with some strawberries. I doubt the creators of Popeye really understood what they were doing by putting a can of spinach in his hands, but they couldn’t have picked a better of a food.

Otherwise, use real butter and ghee just as you’d use the butter you find in most grocery stores.

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Article By: John Fontana

There are few foods that truly deserve to be designated “All-stars” for nutritional, abundance and economic reasons. Of that all-star team, cabbage may very well deserve to play the role of captain. In baseball, a player that can hit for average, hit for power, run, catch and throw is called a “5-tool player.” In the world of food, cabbage may be one of the only 5-tool players in the game, consistently over-performing, while being under-appreciated.

The saying “never judge a book by its cover” has never held more truth than with cabbage. From looking at it, you would never expect cabbage to be so healthy. When you break into the heart of green cabbage the dominant color is white, which is not exactly the typical color we look for when hunting for healthy foods. Even if you look at the nutritional breakdown, checking into the vitamins and minerals, cabbage doesn’t seem to be all that amazing. Sure it is high in vitamin K and vitamin C, but other than that, it doesn’t seem to be all that amazing. But look deep into the chemical makeup of cabbage and you will find some health properties that can’t and shouldn’t be avoided.

Why So Good?

Fight The Enemy

As with many of the foods featured on Shadow Fit, cabbage does a great job protecting and fighting against cancer-causing free radicals. Cabbage holds certain phytochemicals that can increase the rate at which specific enzymes help to kill off free radicals, while also fighting against carcinogens.

The metabolism of estrogen plays a key role in women’s health and certain phytonutrients found in cabbage called indoles help the body metabolize estrogen in a positive manner, reducing the risk of cancer.

Special Veggies

Cabbage belongs to the Cruciferae family which is made up of broccoli, chard, sprouts and bok choy. Multiple studies have shown that cruciferous vegetables are in a league of their own when it comes to protecting the body from cancer. In these studies, people who ate less overall vegetables, but more crucifer veggies still had a lower risk of cancer (especially prostate). Cabbage can have a positive impact, helping protect against lung, colon, breast, bladder, prostate and ovarian cancers.

Calm The Fire

Inflammatory reactions that our bodies have to free radicals are the building blocks for many health issues such as cardiovascular disease, asthma, ulcers and allergies. The antioxidants found in cabbage can help reduce inflammation in the body, which will help prevent many of the aforementioned diseases. Anthocyanins, one type of antioxidant found in cabbage, can help keep keep blood vessels and connective tissue healthy and operating optimally.

What’cha Got?

As stated earlier, cabbage is host to high levels of vitamin K and vitamin C but also contains manganese, folate, calcium and potassium. Raw cabbage will hold about 2 grams of fiber per cup compared to 4 grams of fiber for cooked cabbage.

How To Eat?

Cabbage has a wide variety of uses but my guess is that it is most commonly used in coleslaw. Both raw and cooked cabbage show different health properties, so an effort should be made to incorporate both types. Even when cooking cabbage, you should only sauté or steam it for around 5 minutes or less on low-medium temperature. If you cook cabbage for too long on too high a heat, sulfur will be released giving you a nasty rotten egg smell, which I doubt you are looking for.

My favorite way to eat cabbage is by making cultured vegetables, which essentially turns cabbage into real sauerkraut. Cultured veggies are some of the healthiest and easiest foods to prepare in the world. To give you a quick rundown, all you have to do is chop up a variety of veggies, mix them in with a culture started, throw them into an air sealed container and let them sit at room temperature for about a week. When the week is through, you will have a food that is truly amazing for you and does wonders for your gut.  Just a heads up, the taste will be sour and the smell during the culturing process isn’t the greatest. I recommend storing the cultured veggies out of the way while they are “culturing” and then putting them in the fridge (which will subside the smell) after the week is through.

real sauerkraut

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Article By: John Fontana

Mushrooms are one of the most under recognized super foods that I can think of. They are a nutritional powerhouse filled with loads of vitamins and minerals, yet we almost forget about them. Even better, there is a wide variety of mushrooms available, each offering different benefits. With all of the power that mushrooms harness, you typically just see them on pizzas or mixed in with some assorted veggies. The worst is when I see mushrooms as a fried appetizer at restaurants.  Real healthy now, huh?

The Power Of Fungus

While many people view mushrooms as a vegetable, they are actually fungus growing from the earth. Sure, fungus might have a bad connotation, but as far as nutritional value is concerned, these fungi are actually really, really good. Mushrooms have been a medicinal staple in Eastern culture for thousands of years, and Asian cultures view shiitake mushrooms as a symbol of longevity because of their health benefits.

Ask Our Ancestors

It seems to me that any groundbreaking health research done by modern scientists about food can always be traced back thousands of years. Sure these ancient cultures couldn’t define what an antioxidant or phytonutrient was, but they knew which foods were amazing for health and used them as medicine. In this case, mushrooms are one of those foods that have been viewed positively for thousands of years.  And modern science is finally catching up to confirm those ancient findings.

Why So Good?

Breast Cancer-Fighting

Mushrooms have been linked to having powerful anti-cancer properties, some of the strongest of any food. A chemical called Beta-glucans is found in mushrooms, which is commonly used in Japan to treat cancer. Recently, special attention has been given to the effects that mushrooms have on breast cancer. An increased risk of breast cancer occurs when high levels of estrogen are circulating through the body. Mushrooms have shown to prevent levels of estrogen from becoming excessive by reducing production levels of aromatase, a necessary ingredient in estrogen production. Mushrooms have also been shown to help lessen the painful after effects of radiation and chemotherapy. Mushrooms help limit the toxic effect that follow, helping patients overcome nausea and extreme fatigue.

Nutrients

Cremini mushrooms are the little mushrooms that look like white marbles and are most commonly seen in American culture. The list of vitamins and minerals that this mushroom includes is incredible.

Weight Loss Supplement

Many weight-loss supplements attempt to take on the role of caritine, a compound that helps the body use fat for energy instead of storing it. L-ergothionene is the antioxidant that actually causes this process and it can be found in high levels in both shitake and maitake mushrooms. Supplements like Ephedra and Hydroxycut that attempt to mimic this effect have caught a lot of heat in recent years for their side effects. But there’s little doubt you will ever hear about a recall on mushrooms. I don’t know about you, but if I can get all the advantages of manufactured supplements through food, I will always choose the food.

How To Eat?

There is no big mystery to this one, mushrooms can be eaten just about any way you would like. Raw foodists claim that mushrooms will loose some of their health benefits when cooked (which is likely true) but I know that most people enjoy them cooked. If you have trouble eating them raw just try to keep the heat on medium-low while cooking to ensure that you don’t lose too many benefits. Otherwise, try to get a wide variety in the type of mushrooms you select because they all provide different health benefits. If you decide to get your own mushrooms, be careful on which ones you pick. The ones that grow on cow manure will get much more of an experience than just nutritional benefits, but if thats what your looking for than go right ahead.

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I encourage any questions or comments, please:

Leave a response at the bottom of the article,

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One of the most powerful vegetables you can possibly eat is a rough textured leafy green that goes by the name of Kale.  Kale comes from the cabbage family and is not widely known or used in America.

Why So Good?

Kale has been ranked atop the list of vegetables for ORAC rating.  Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is a number that is given to fruits and vegetables that can fight free radicals, which damage your cells.  The USDA measured kale in at a 1770 ORAC rating which is about 500 points higher than the next vegetable (#2 spinach) on the list.

Kale is also host to powerful cancer fighting properties, which have been shown to protect from breast, cervical and colon cancer.  The veggie is packed with calcium, iron and vitamins A, C and K. As if everything already listed wasn’t enough, around two cups holds 4 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.

How To Eat?

Kale is not exactly the most appealing looking food right off the bat.  The leaves are rough in texture and thick, with thick hard stems.  It can be eaten war, but unless you are a raw-foodist or really into the raw taste and texture of kale, some other techniques are suggested.  It can also be steamed (which will soften the leaves and stems up), or roasted in the oven.

Attached is a recipe for cooking kale with orzo.  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Orzo-with-Kale/Detail.aspx