Superfood Spotlight: Holiday Edition
The holiday season tends to bring about a trifecta of high stress, high sugar and high fat comfort foods, leading to the inevitable result of energy crashes, potential illness, and added stress to kick off the new year. We listed our favorite powerhouse foods that are seamless additions to your holiday recipes. They pack a nutritional punch to help make your holidays just a little bit healthier.
Cacao
Cacao is one of the highest antioxidant rich foods. It contains a group of antioxidant polyphenols called flavonoids that include catechins, epicatechins, and procyandins, which are known for their exceptional ability to reduce the effect of free radicals, inhibit bacteria, viruses, and yeast development, and inhibit cancer formation. Cacao is also rich in major minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese. These minerals are essential in stabilizing blood pressure and are vital to immune, neurological, and reproductive health.
Coconut
The high saturated fat content of coconut has been given it a bad rap, but studies have shown these medium chain triglycerides (MCT) actually improve cardiovascular function by decreasing inflammation and providing stearic acid, a preferred fuel for the heart. The saturated fat content gives coconut oil notable strength to maintain its normal structure under high heat, making it a preferred oil for cooking. Unlike most fats, coconut fatty acids do not require bile or large amounts of pancreatic enzymes to be metabolized, making it easy on liver, pancreas, and the rest of the digestive system. Coconut has also been shown to stimulate the thyroid and speed up metabolism, increasing the body’s ability to metabolize fat. In addition, MCTs boost immunity by providing strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral, & anti-fungal functions.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is high in antioxidants and touts many health benefits. Cinnamon’s essential oils are known for their anti-microbial properties and studies have shown it’s quite effective at inhibiting the growth of bacteria as well as fungi, including candida. According to this study, taking 500 mg of cinnamon for 12 weeks decreased the oxidative stress present in folks with pre-diabetes. Cinnamon may lower blood sugar levels and may imitate the effects of insulin and help transport blood glucose. It may also help to increase insulin sensitivity for up to 12 hours. Check out this article for a more exhaustive list of cinnamon’s health benefits.
Might be time to add a coconut milk hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon into your holiday traditions.