A power-packed bite to set it right

Mad schedules, long work hours, hectic lifestyles. How does one keep going amidst the demands of urban life? Super food could be one of the answers, finds Barnalee Handique
With the super fast life style we lead, we are sapped off energy by the end of the day. What we need is super power to wade through the daily grunge and grind. A high dose of super food promises not only to boost the immune system but make you healthy and fit as well. So, incorporate them in your daily diet,and they can change your life forever.
What is super food? Can the super food formula be decoded and applied to our everyday diet? Where you can avail of it? For starters, super foods include fruit, vegetables, grains, proteins that are known to to improve well being and longevity. The list includes blueberries, broccoli, nuts, oats, oranges, salmon, strawberries, tomatoes, soya, low fat yoghurt, dark chocolate, red wine, apples, garlic, honey kiwi, avocado, beans, cinnamon, onions, pomegranates, pumpkin, spinach, tea and turkey. These ingredients are easily available in the local super market. And they are worth looking for!
Explaining the concept of super food, executive sous chef , Ray Liew, Westin, Pune says, “The high concentrations of crucial nutrients present in the food in sufficient quantity, makes a difference to one’s health when consumed everyday. You feel more energised, rejuvenated and invigourated if you include a variety of them in your breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food, besides being packed with nutrients and vital vitamins, is low in calories too.” It has been proven to help prevent, as well in some cases reverse, the well known effects of ageing, diabetes, cardio vascular diseases, hypertension, body pain, cancers and so on.
What could be more welcome and delicious than a warm mug of apple cider sprinkled with cinnamon or cinnamon baked apple with crushed nuts? The cinnamon not only promotes health, it particularly benefits people suffering from type II diabetes. Broccoli, for instance, and its cruciferous sidekicks are among the most powerful weapons in the dietary arsenal against cancer. It also boosts the immune system, build bones, and fights birth defects. Or you can binge on loads of dark chocolates with out any guilt pangs. Explains Liew, “It is a myth that chocolates are loaded with caffeine. If taken in small quantities, it lowers blood pressure, increases increase blood flow, and energises you.”On the other hand, onions are a major source of phytonutrients, flavonoids and the mixture of over fifty sulphur containing compounds that play a significant role in health promotion. Other super foods like tomatoes, oranges, tea, garlic,kiwi, honey pack in a nutritional wallop too.
It is believed that when super food is combined with other ingredients, it adds to the nutritional value. So you can combine different ingredients like sesame tofu, soya and coriander sauce or red lentils, coriander and ginger and cumin. Make some hot tomato soup with coriander, or settle down for a garden green salad with onion,tomato, cucumber served with lemon dressing.
g Super foods are known for being health enhancing and rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients. The key to super food Rx philosophy is ‘food synergy.' Food synergy refers to foods that, when prepared together, are even more nutritious than they are when eaten separately. For example, we can combine spinach and tomatoes, cinnamon and whole grains like oats, honey and yogurt and so on,” adds Lewis. Are you ready to try some?