Think you can't prevent cancer with the foods you eat? Think again. You can slash your risk of developing breast cancer just by consuming choline-rich foods. Choline what, you might be thinking. And to that I say: Choline is an organic compound classified as a water-soluble essential nutrient, usually grouped within the vitamin B complex. Mumbo jumbo, huh?

Here's all you really need to know: Good sources of choline are eggs, fish, lean meat, collard greens, and beans. Women need 425 mg per day, yet 90% of Americans don't get enough. Get the right amount and you'll decrease your risk of breast cancer by 24%. You'll also cut your heart disease risk and improve your memory.

Kick start your new choline habit today, by throwing down one large egg yolk, says Prevention magazine. It has 27% of your daily recommended amount.

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This past week, we wrapped up our America Takes It Off coverage by revealing that you, our readers, have lost an astounding 231 lbs! But just because we're not checking in with you anymore doesn't mean you should give up on losing -- let's keep up the good work! And, in honour of our continued efforts to look great for summer, I'm going to talk to you about one food that is notorious for helping you slim down: grapefruit.

You've probably heard about the Grapefruit Diet. Now, we would never advocate a fad diet like this one, but you know what? It does have some merit -- adding grapefruit to your diet has been proven to help you lose weight. Why, you ask? Well, in addition to being high in fibre and water to help flush out your system, it's thought that grapefruits can help lower insulin levels, which can lead to weight loss.

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Ugh, supplements. For a lot of people they're a "must have" for a healthy diet, and although I don't disagree, I'm also really bad at taking them because it's just so confusing determining what exactly I need -- the list of "recommended" supplements is at least a mile long it seems! But a nutritionally-complete diet is almost impossible to come by through food alone these days, and many supplements can give an extra boost of valuable disease and age-fighting properties to help fitness goals be that much easier to both achieve and maintain. But if you're like me and find yourself either overwhelmed or just generally intimidated by the prospect of taking regular supplements, this list of the 5 most valuable supplements compiled by experts for Natural Health magazine could be a big help! Here they are:

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Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Peas are one of my favourite vegetables -- especially when they're fresh from the garden. Crunchy, juicy and just a little bit sweet, they're absolutely delicious. Even in the winter, when they come frozen from a bag in the freezer, they're still really tasty. And usually, things that taste good aren't good for you (and vice versa) but peas are the exception; not only do peas taste good, they're really good for you too.

But just what about green peas makes them so nutritious?

5 Things You Can Do With a Pea:

1) Shoot them through a straw at other kids during lunch in the school cafeteria;

2) Use them as an alternative protein source to whey, casein, meat, and egg;

3) Place them under the mattress of a princess and see if she can feel it;

4) Put them up your nose to make it look like you're rockin' a huge booger (works well in the same grammar school environment as use #1);

5) Reduce your risk of stroke and other heart complications.

Going on the assumption that you're already well versed in the first four uses, I'll focus on the last. Because peas contain a great deal of the B vitamin folate, they help reduce homocystene levels, a substance that, according to RealAge.com, can cause bad cholesterol to oxidize and contribute to artery-blocking blood clots.

Since the average American diet tends to fall a bit short in the folate department, perhaps you should try adding peas to your shopping cart the next time you're at the grocery store. The best part is that even if you buy too many, you can always use them to do numbers one through four.

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For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has looked to the goji berry as a potent source of nutrients. Specifically used for its supposed anti-aging properties and its benefit to eyesight, goji's high vitamin C and B content also help make it a powerful combatant against kidney and liver problems.

Sometimes referred to as wolfberries, goji berries make a healthy and delicious little snack. In addition to the benefits listed above, some recent research into this rare fruit uncovered a potential link between its consumption and a decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol.

In addition to the berry, you can also try goji juice, which has somewhat of an unusual, but decent, taste. A word of caution for people taking the blood thinner warfarin, though. Just as many leafy green vegetables can lessen the effectiveness of this medication, goji may do the same. Talk to your doctor to see if goji is right for you.

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Multivitamins are a convenient way to get all of the major vitamins and minerals packed into one little pill, but they are not exactly the most soluble of food supplements. To get around this, many supplement manufactures have created powder drink vitamin formulas, serving to bypass this one issue. But the taste (and price) of some of these products may not be right for everyone. Fortunately, there is always one other option. Good, ol' fashioned food.

In order to get your vitamins, you have to know where to find them. Perhaps I'll make this a multi-part post; covering all of the major vitamins over the next few days and telling you in what foods they can found. Sound like a good idea? I think so. To that end, I'll start today with some the many types of vitamin B and their respective health benefits.

B1 - Found in whole grain bread, pasta, rice, and pork. This type of B vitamin helps release energy from food and also keeps nerve and brain cells nice and healthy.

B5 - Found in fish, meat, poultry, whole grains, legumes, milk, fruits, and vegetables. This vitamin helps with the metabolizing of carbs, proteins, and fats.

B6 - Found in chicken, pork, fish, liver, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. Great for keeping serotonin levels where they should be.

B9 - Also known as folate, this can be found in many fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and beef liver. It helps break down fatty acids and has also been shown in some studies to reduce the progression of cancer in some cases.

B12 - Is found in abundance in eggs, meat, fish, poultry, and dairy. This form of vitamin B helps to form red blood cells.

B6. B12. You sunk my -- age-related macular degeneration? You did indeed if those alpha-numeric combos represent two of the proper vitamins you should be getting in your diet. Harvard scientists discovered that homocysteine levels that fall into the safe zone for heart disease may still be too high for your eyes, and more specifically, cause damage to your delicate ocular blood vessels.

The researchers went on to say that if your score is over 9 millimoles (which in my mind are nothing more than very tiny rodents, but I digress) per liter, then it is highly important that you add a multivitamin to your diet that includes B6 and B12.

As for your overall health, homocysteine levels should be very carefully monitored as often as possible. High levels of these amino acids cause cholesterol to manifest into oxidized low-density lipoprotein, which can cause damage to the arteries. In addition, high homocysteine levels may contribute to an increased risk of blood clot, which, in turn, can raise the risk of blood vessel blockages and perhaps even cause a stroke. Once again, doctors suggest that one of the most effective measures you can take to combat high homocysteine levels is to make sure that you are eating enough B vitamins.

There are many nutritional supplements on the market that claim to be able to positively effect your mental acuity. Ginko biloba, vitamin E, vitamin B, and even aspirin are supposed brain-boosters, helping to give you somewhat of a mental lift when you need it.

Skeptical? Yeah, me too. Fortunately, a new book called YOU: Staying Young clears things up a bit with regard to this whole brain supplement debate. Here's just a few of the authors' (Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen) opinions:

Vitamin E: Yes. People who consume the RDA of this vitamin have been shown to have a 43-percent less chance of developing Alzheimer's Disease.

Vitamin B: Yes. The authors suggest 400micrograms of folic acid, 800 micrograms of B12, and 40milligrams of B12, stating that B vitamins help your neurotransmitters work more effectively.

Ginko Biloba: Not Really. Although the authors point to some promising research, there is nothing conclusive yet regarding ginko biloba's alleged brain-boosting benefits.

Aspirin: Yes. According to the authors, people who take 162mg of aspirin per day have been shown to have a 40-percent decrease in arterial aging, which contributes greatly to memory loss.

If any of you have ever experienced any benefits (or none at all) from some of these supplements, we'd all be interested to hear about it.

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Here's a great resource that I came across via Fitsugar the other day -- The Vitamin Chart. Basically, you'llfind everything you need to know about those pesky lettered vitamins (A, the Bs, C, D, E and K) that we heard so much about but have trouble keeping track of. It helps by clarifying what each vitamin does, how much you need a day and where you can find it in natural sources -- fruits, veggies and nuts.

Which ones are you not getting enough of?

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