3 Food Essentials for a Long Healthy Life

By Phox Foods

We are all aware that eating more plants is good for you.  The research is clear; the more unprocessed vegetables and fruits you eat, the less likely you are to have chronic diseases, like Diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.  But even with the abundance of health-promoting food available in the produce section, there are still several foods that deserve a special shout out for their ability to have remarkable, scientifically proven effects on our health.  These are foods that, when added to our daily diets, even without any other dietary intervention, significantly decrease rates of chronic illness and improve disease-free longevity.

MUSHROOMS

Mushrooms are like rocket fuel for the immune system.  They contain phytonutrients, like beta-glucan, that supercharge the activity of your immune cells, especially those cells that attack and destroy virus-infected and cancerous cells.

And although all cancers should run when they see a mushroom coming, breast cancers, in particular, are uniquely susceptible to the phytochemicals in mushrooms. For Dr. Stacy Mitchell Doyle, M.D., partner and co-creator of HEAL, it was important to include mushrooms in the formulation because of her strong family history of breast cancer. And when you consider that studies have shown that just 10 grams of mushrooms a day (the equivalent of one button mushroom!) decreased breast cancer risk by 64 percent, it’s a no brainer that eating this amazing food each day should be a part of everyone’s routine. 

CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES

The cruciferous group of vegetables, like broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, radish, and arugula, are the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. They are a favorite of PHOXFoods CEO Paul Tylla, not just because of their powerhouse anti-cancer properties, or their heart protective and blood pressure lowering effects, but also because they help supercharge workouts, decrease inflammation, and increase endurance. The phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables keep the blood vessels healthy and improve blood flow and oxygen capacity in the heart, muscles, and lungs.  Adding just one cruciferous vegetable to your plate each day has a dramatic effect on your health, more than any other food group.

BERRIES

If you want to live long, disease-free, AND maintain your brain function and mental acuity, then make sure berries are a part of your daily routine. Not only are they naturally sweet and delicious, but they are also low in sugar and packed with powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients.  The dark-skinned berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and dark cherries have been extensively studied in cancer prevention, cardiovascular health, and especially dementia prevention and brain health. Berry consumption has shown a strong inverse relationship with cognitive decline.  This means that the more berries you eat, the less likely you are to suffer from dementia of any type.  Berries also protect the blood vessels in the brain, lowering the incidence of stroke.

It may be surprising that adding just three simple things into your daily routine could have such a profound effect on your health, but the science doesn’t lie. Optimal health can be achieved by making small changes and additions to your nutrition. So when the team at PHOXFoods developed HEAL, they took all the science into consideration on their journey to take “Food As Medicine” to a whole new level.