One of our team was lucky enough to just return from a holiday in the Aegean part of Southern Turkey. Whilst away, they were on their way to a restaurant one warm evening, when they brushed against an overhanging tree branch containing an enormous quantity of pomegranates in various stages of growth. Now aware of a local and abundant product, they tracked down some pomegranate juice to try (when in Rome and all that…). When it arrived, the juice was the most beautiful shade of reddish pink and tasted delicious: sweet with a tang – a bit like cranberry juice, but with a richer flavour.
Well, we are now informed by our nutritionist that pomegranate juice is a pretty amazing substance. It’s loaded with antioxidants called polyphenols: an abundance of research has concluded that polyphenols can be very beneficial to those suffering from stress. Pomegranate juice even contains a unique polyphenol which no other known food contains.
This sounded so amazing, it set us wondering what other foods might also have magical stress-reducing powers? The answer is…
Walnuts! They are even shaped like human brains so that should help us remember these brain boosting beauties. We should eat the skin if we can though as it contains an abundance of antioxidants – that’s the whitish, sometimes waxy, sometimes flaky, outermost part of shelled walnuts.
Blueberries. Not only for neurological health, but for blood-pressure too. Even children seem to love blueberries, it shouldn’t be a problem to get most of the family munching away at these.
Cherries. Again, great for your mood, and delicious too. Interestingly, cherries have also been shown to help symptoms of both gout and arthritis.
Spinach and Kale. OK, not necessarily everyone’s favourite food, but at least there’s no need to try and eat either of these raw. Cooking these green leafy vegetables actually improves their stress reducing benefits (plus you only need 1 cup of cooked veg to get the benefits).
Flax seeds. Stick them in a smoothie, sprinkle them on your cereal, bake them in something healthy…and experience a natural boost to help combat mental stress plus digestive and hormone health (30g per day should do the trick).
So many of these foods are in season at the moment. Why not try tracking down and eating a selection of them to make summer even happier than it already is? And don’t forget, our nutritionist is always happy to have a consultation to enlighten you as to what else the power of food can do for you.