That's Fit

Everyone thinks eating a healthful diet is expensive. But these 10 foods cost less than a dollar per serving.

I'm not a big fan of "superfoods." I think there are a lot of foods that are super, and I think that most of them are easily accessible to the vast majority of people. Focusing on one funny-sounding food as a nutritional miracle does a disservice to the more common fruits and veggies we eat every day.

So I'm thrilled that the NYT Well Blog made a list of 11 healthy (but not uncommon) foods that we aren't eating, and that, for the most part, everyone will recognize the foods on the list.

Not only will you recognize them, but you'll probably even be able to get them at your local grocer. The idea behind lists like this is that we all should be eating a wide variety of foods, to ensure that we're getting the proper vitamins and minerals. So every time you add a new food to your palate, you're also adding a new source of good nutrition.

So here's the list:

• beets
• cabbage
• Swiss chard
• cinnamon
• pomegranate juice
• prunes
• pumpkin seeds
• sardines
• turmeric
• frozen blueberries
• canned pumpkin
  
  

What about you? Is there a healthy food you aren't eating? Check out the gallery below for 25 you ought to embrace.

Okay, so the article I'm basing this post on is titled "40 must have foods for the 40 yr old body" but I say why not 40 must have foods for everybody? They're all pretty basic and straight-forward foods that anybody can eat -- why wait to eat these things until you're 40, or feel like it's too late if you're already out of your 40s? I say all food is for everybody! Haha. Well, it is. And especially since these foods are categorized into groups like "immunity boosters" and "bone builders" -- I'm 30 years old and I want a boosted immunity and strong bones just as much as the next person!

So that's my rant on why I dropped the "for 40 yr olds" off the title and out the equation. As far as I'm concerned the following 40 foods are must haves (to some extent) for everybody. Wild salmon and kiwis here I come! (Ew, those don't sound good together at all ... ) .

Skipping meals is often a tactic for those who are trying to lose weight, but it's really not a good idea. Sure, you cut a bunch of calories all at once, but then you set yourself up for a crash and binge later on in the day. It's far easier to control your hunger when you're satisfied by light, nutritious foods.

Lunch is an especially important meal of the day. What you eat during your mid-day meal will give you energy for the rest of the day to come. The best way to ensure a healthy lunch is to pack it yourself, though with careful thought you can still find nutritious choices at restaurants and fast food joints.

When packing your lunch, make sure to include a high quality protein and whole grains, plus plenty of fruits and vegetables. Here are a few suggestions:

• lettuce salad with nuts and/or fish
• a simple stir fry
• a sandwich on whole grain bread with plenty of veggies
• hummus on pita bread
• peanut butter and banana sandwich
• leftover chili from your dinner the night before

Speaking of leftovers, as long as you're a healthy cook, they're an excellent choice for lunch as well. For more lunch ideas, as well as breakfast and dinner, visit AOL's Summer Quick Fix and check out their Mix 'n Match Meals.

Americans are being hit in the wallet at almost every turn these days. Between exorbitant gas prices and rising food costs, it's becoming increasingly difficult to eat healthy. While most people would much rather purchase lean meat and poultry, for example, the disparity in pricing between such foods and highly-processed foods makes the decision based more on personal finances than on personal health.

Fortunately, there are some healthy foods that won't break the proverbial bank. WebMD recently listed ten of them, in fact, in an article titled 10 Healthy Foods for Under a Dollar. Check 'em out!!

1 - Apples

2 - Banana

3 - Baby Carrots

4 - Canned Beans

5 - Canned Tomatoes

Don't you hate the guilt that comes along with eating most of your favorite foods? Every time I have something that tastes really good, I'm secretly thinking: "I bet this is awful for me."

But apparently that isn't always the case. A number of popular foods are commonly thought to be bad for us, however -- if eaten with a little consideration -- these tasty treats are actually quite healthy.

Take eggs, for instance. You're probably worried about the high-cholesterol clogging your arteries, but nutrition experts have discovered that the amount of cholesterol in foods usually doesn't effect the cholesterol in your bloodstream (saturated and trans fats are the real culprits). So, as long as you're not eating your eggs fried, full of cheese, topped with mayonnaise, and served with bacon, it's worth it for the protein, choline (good for brain development), vitamin E and zinc.

Even more exciting is pizza. As long as you stick to whole-wheat crust, go light on tomato sauce, and are heavy with the veggies, you'll be getting important nutrients from a number of different groups within the Food Guide Pyramid.

For other "bad" foods that just might be good for you (like beef, white potatoes, and even sugary cereals), check out this article on MSNBC.

It might not be a newsflash that broccoli is, well, healthy, but the more we learn about the magical little vegetable, the more it seems you should eat the stuff by the truckload. Aside from being all low-cal and vegetable-y, broccoli has 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), a chemical produced when broccoli (and kale and cabbage) are chewed up and digested. DIM has been shown to stop the growth of cancer cells in animal studies. But researchers at the University of California at Berkeley also found that DIM boosts the immune response in mice. Better immune response means the body can better fight infections and cancers.

If DIM has the same result in humans, it's one more reason to broccolify your meals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll find cake has the same health-helping properties, but I don't think it's looking good so far...

I'm always looking for healthy items to serve when there's gatherings to be had or parties to attend. That's not an easy order, since most "party" items are full of fat and calories that I'd prefer to avoid if at all possible.

So when I find a recipe that looks both delicious and is ultra-healthy, I cling to it! Although smoky Eggplant Dip may sound gross to some people, this is one I've made before (slightly altered from the below) and it was incredible. Very good tasting and very decent on calories and bad nutritional content (very little except sugar).

Try this with pita chips (like Stacy's) and you'll be amazed at how good this stuff is - without packing a thousand calories into a single serving.

• Vegetable spray to taste
• 2 eggplants (about 1 lb/450 g each)
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 onion, peeled, halved
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
  

See the source and entire directions on making this delicious dip here.

Do you pay attention to the levels of antioxidants in the foods that you eat? Some do, and manufacturers of food products are increasingly labeling foods with the "antioxidant" label as a result.

Antioxidants battle the renegade "free radicals" that are naturally developed inside your body and which can cause damage to cells. But is the best way to get antioxidants featured in taking vitamins and supplements?

Hold that thought -- why not each foods already high in antioxidant levels? Foods like all those servings of fruits and vegetables (deep colors like orange, green and red) will give you an antioxidant boost that is great for ongoing positive health. Eat an apple for breakfast instead of a deep-fried doughnut if you can.

You can put yourself on a diet, you can put your significant other on a diet, you can even put your dog on a diet. Did you know, though, that if you're trying to lose weight you should put your kitchen on a diet as well? White-knuckling the steering wheel of willpower will only get you so far and if you're like me, when willpower fails you, it fails you in a big way. But having a fridge and pantry full of all the right things (and very, very few of the wrong things) is a great way to surround yourself with the tools for success.

Take a minute to look through your fridge and pantry. What does it contain? Are there chips, cookies, or highly processed snack foods? Is there ice cream in your freezer? Hot dogs in your fridge? Snacks have their place, even in the healthiest of diets, but putting temptation out of arm's reach and learning to love high-nutrient,lower calorie foods instead will help you shed those pounds quickly.

Ready to get started? Here's a great article about stocking your fridge with all the right foods, and another about shaping up your pantry. Got any other great tips for keeping your kitchen lean and mean? Share them with us!

Snacks and snacking usually get a pretty bad rap, but it's really just because of the food most people pick to snack on. The truth is that snacking can be really good for you, and for your diet. Snacking between meals can help hold off hunger pains so you don't end up binging, it boosts your metabolism to help you burn more calories, and it gives you more energy so it's easier to get moving and exercising. Just make sure you pick healthy snack foods, and not potato chips and ice cream, or you'll cancel out the positive benefits.

Cranberries are associated mostly with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and are somewhat forgotten or overlooked the rest of the year. They have so many health benefits though that it might be worth working them into your diet more often year round. Just a short list of some of the many benefits of cranberries are:

• Cranberry juice has been shown to block urinary tract infections (no evidence at this time that it can be used to treat an already active infection).
• Cranberries contain a compound called proanthocyanidine that prevents plaque build-up on teeth. Researchers are looking into developing products to use it to prevent periodontal disease.
• In some cases, regular cranberry juice in the diet has killed the bacteria H. pylori that causes stomach cancer and ulcers.

In addition, ongoing research is supporting that cranberries and cranberry juice may have a positive affect on cholesterol, stunt tumor formation and growth, and prevent the growth of breast cancer cells in test tubes.

Not sure how processing the cranberries into that can-shaped "jelly log" affects these findings, but for all the high-fat, empty calorie splurge foods you'll have sitting on your holiday table this year (and it just wouldn't be the same without them!), you can feel a little better about the cranberries and cranberry sauce with your turkey and stuffing!

Are you tired of being lethargic, overweight and generally unhealthy? Are you ready to adopt healthier eating habits but unsure of how to begin? Well, here's a starting point: Check out this article, which lists a bunch of foods that you can easily add to your diet to increase the nutritional value of what you eat. Dubbed the Powerhouse Foods by the author, each of these are high in either nutrients, fiber, good fats, antioxidants or all of the above.

These are all things that I already try to incorporate into my day-to-day eating, and the change between how I used to feel when I was eating junk and how I feel now is like day and night. So I can confidently recommend following the steps listed here -- junk food will become a thing of your past!