Late summer is the perfect time to practice conscious eating and to show extra love to ourselves, by nourishing our body. Superfoods are all around and we are used to taking supplements and vitamins on a daily basis to fuel our bodies all year round. While we are so lucky to have an abundance of nutritious macas and spirulinas from a neighborhood health store, you can’t beat the nature’s health cabinet – fresh superfoods from a local farmers market.
September is truly a perfect month as summer is still here, with its long warm days and dreamy nights, gifting us the first treasures from early harvest. Visit your local farmer’s market, across Canada, for these delicious and nutritious super foods in season.
Tomatoes
- Tomatoes are an excellent source vitamin C. They are also a very good source of copper, potassium, manganese, dietary fiber, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin B6, folate, niacin, vitamin E, and phosphorus.
- Tomatoes are rich in potassium, a mineral most of us don’t get enough of. A cup of tomato juice contains 534 milligrams of potassium, and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce has 454 milligrams. An excellent snack after a hot yoga class!
- Tomatoes contain a considerable amount of calcium and Vitamin K. Both of these nutrients are essential in strengthening and performing minor repairs on the bones as well as the bone tissue.
Cucumbers
- Cucumbers contain an anti-inflammatory flavonol called fisetin that appears to play an important role in brain health. In addition to improving your memory and protecting your nerve cells from age-related decline, fisetin has been found to prevent progressive memory and learning impairments in mice with Alzheimer’s disease.
- Cucumbers contain multiple B vitamins, including vitamin B1, vitamin B5, and vitamin B7 (biotin). B vitamins are known to help ease feelings of anxiety and buffer some of the damaging effects of stress. A wonderful supplement to all that hard work you do in your yoga class.
- Quick pick me-up – Cucumbers are a good source of B vitamins. Put down your sodas and coffee and eat a cucumber slice.
Peaches
- Peaches are the perfect snack food for losing weight. A peach makes you feel full and keeps you from overeating. The bonus: one peach only contains about 35-50 calories and no fat!
- Keep the skin healthy. Vitamin A and C make peaches a great natural moisturizer; they’re often used in cosmetics. These vitamins can help regenerate skin tissue.
- Peach flowers have sedative properties . A remedy for restlessness includes boiling peach flowers in water along with some honey.
The list of superfoods is endless of course. Take the time this September to explore new ways of nurturing your body.
What’s your favourite recipe or superfood?