If I were responsible for making the food pyramid I would have and entire category for booster foods.
This is such an awesome category because it is NOT about depriving ourselves but instead about what we can ADD!
Booster foods are an awesome and easy way to give your cells and body what it needs to function its best.
I love keeping these foods on hand and easily visible so I remember to sprinkle them on throughout the day.
Your body is made of cells and those cells are affected by the environment, the life, and the food you expose them to. We need our cells working to function and feel our best. Things that damage your cells and if left unchecked can ultimately create chronic and debilitating conditions are: toxic exposure, blood sugar instability, inflammation, oxidative damage by free radicals, hypoxia (lack of oxygen), and insufficient macro/micro/phyto nutrients (due to impaired digestion/absorption, decreasing nutrients in our foods, or lack of consumption). In other words, our lifestyle and what we eat directly affects our cells and how well they work for us and how fast they age. Let’s give them a boost!
Booster foods give you a ton of nutrient bang for your buck. They provide many of precursors that your cells need to function properly and do their jobs and in result keep you healthy. They are full of antioxidants, minerals, phytonutrients, vitamins, probiotics, protein, and more- things that are critical to long term health for your body.
My favorite BOOSTER foods are:
-
- Nutritional Yeast
- Apple cider vinegar
- Greens powders
- Algae and seaweeds (chlorella, spirulina, dulse, kelp, sea palm, hijiki, etc)
- A variety of Spices and Herbs – add as many as you can to your snacks and meals! Dry or fresh but add them- cilantro, oregano, thyme, sage, peppercorns, cumin, parsley, cardamon, dill, ginger, garlic, basil, etc. I love mixtures like the one from Braggs.
- Herbal teas such as lemon balm, chamomile, alfalfa, dandelion, red clover, peppermint, etc
- Seeds – flax seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower, pumpkin. I have these in easy to reach for jars in my fridge and even have a mix of ground pumpkin/sunflower to easily sprinkle on wherever I can.
- Nuts such as brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, etc
- Sprouts such as alfalfa, broccoli, clover, etc.
- Fermented foods (sauerkraut, miso, kumbucha, apple cider vinegar, etc)
- Beverages- mineral broths, bone broths, green tea, coconut water, filtered water, golden milk, herbal teas
- Edible Medicinal Mushrooms- shitake, lion’s mane, turkey tail, chaga, etc.
- Super berries- I love these and use them mostly in powdered form- Acai berry, camu camu, acerola, mullberry,
- Cacao
- Maca
- Clean protein powders- whey, hemp, pea, brown rice, collagen, bone broth
- Rainbow fruits and vegetables
- Bee pollen
- Kelp flakes
- Olive oil
- Bone broth
Which ones are you going to try? Or which ones do you use? This picture is our booster box at home that we keep accessible for kids and adults to sprinkle on their foods.
Put these important foods in your cabinet or fridge, place them where you can see them, and add them to your daily diet as much as you can.
Enjoy! Janel
