11 Foods That Should ALWAYS Be In Your Fridge

Keep a few extra ingredients alongside your cupboard staples and you'll be able to whip up a healthy meal in no time

When you’re tired, hungry and have to knock up a meal in less than 20 minutes it can be easy to reach for easy options, like frozen pizzas or ready meals.

But if you make sure your fridge is always stocked with these foods, alongside your staples – like pasta, eggs and milk – you should be able to create fantastically delicious and nutritious meals in no time. 

Tomato paste

Health benefits: When you need to make a meal quickly, a smoky tomato paste can be a cooking-saviour. It adds a lot of flavour to your meals, but is low in fat and calories. It ‘s also relatively cheap and could help to protect your skin against harmful UV damage.

How? Tomato paste contains lycopene, which is an antioxidant that can help defend against the sun’s UV rays. The BBC Science and Nature team conducted a study and found that when women ate tomato paste every day for 12 weeks they had a 30 per cent increase in skin protection.

Serving suggestion: To make sure your tomato paste is healthy try to make your own. Then add it to pizzas, chicken, pasta, meatballs or ratatouille.

Shiitake mushrooms

Health benefits: In Asia shiitake mushrooms are a symbol of longevity and it’s easy to see why. Not only are shiitake mushrooms a great source of iron they are also packed with antioxidants and contain vitamin B2, B6 and B3.

Plus, studies have found that shiitake mushrooms can lower cholesterol, enhance our immune system and, according to WH Foods, shiitake mushrooms could also have anti-cancer benefits.

Serving suggestion: Shiitake mushrooms are delicious when added to miso soup. Or you could sauté your mushrooms with garlic, adding this combo to noodle or pasta dishes.   

Yogurt

Health benefits: If you’ve had a stressful day and are feeling worried, then have some yogurt for dessert. A study conducted by researchers at Toronto University found that a probiotic bacteria found in some yogurts could help decrease anxiety.

Serving suggestion: Add honey, chopped apples and cinnamon to yogurt. To help reduce your anxiety even further, add a handful of chopped walnuts to your dessert. Walnuts contain tryptophan, which can also help calm your mind.

Watermelon

Health benefits: Watermelon contains vitamin C, vitamin A, iron and zinc. If you exercise regularly and are fed up of getting aching muscles you’ll also be pleased to hear that a study published in theJournal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry found that watermelon juice could help ease muscle soreness.

Serving suggestion: Why not make a watermelon smoothie for breakfast? Or you could always create a light lunch or healthy starter by serving your watermelon with crumbled feta, black olives, mint, olive oil and onions.Immune-boosting foods: Ginger [Rex]

Ginger

Health benefits: There are a ton of health benefits associated with ginger, which is why it’s such a great food to have in your fridge. Ginger can help ease bloating, reduce gas and it can also help boost your immune system.

Serving suggestion: Ginger is a hugely versatile ingredient and you can use it to flavour curries, salads or you could simply add some grated ginger to hot water for a stomach-soothing tea. Popping in a little honey and lemon juice can help sweeten the tea if you find the ginger too overpowering.

Prune puree

Health benefits: When baking, prune puree can be used as a healthy alternative to butter and, because of its high fibre content, prune puree will help you feel fuller for longer.  

Serving suggestion: Add prune puree to certain cake recipes so that you can stick to eating healthily whilst still indulging your sweet tooth. Prune puree works particularly well in a chocolate cake recipe because of its rich taste.

Soy miso paste

Health benefits: Soy miso paste is made from fermented soya beans and when eaten it will boost your levels of protein and fibre. It also contains important antioxidants that we all need, like manganese, copper and zinc.

Serving suggestion: You can create a marinade for your fish dish out of miso paste or add miso paste to soup or stir frys.

Tzatziki

Health benefits: Not only is tzatziki packed with protein, which will help keep you fuller for longer, it’s a great substitute for lots of unhealthy foods too, like sour cream and mayonnaise.

Serving suggestion: Use tzatziki as an accompaniment to chicken, veg or turkey kebabs. Tztatiki also tastes great with white fish, falafel and as a mayo replacement on burgers.

Pineapple

Health benefits: Within just one cup of pineapple you get 78.87mg of vitamin C, which is a huge amount. Especially if you consider the fact that the NHS recommends adults need 40mg of vitamin C per day. 

Vitamin C is great for your immune system, so if you want to ward off colds and bugs, make sure you’ve got pineapple on your shopping list.

Serving suggestion: Chop pineapple and add to prawn kebabs. Pineapple can also be used to make a delicious sweet and sour sauce for a stir fry.

Beetroot

Health benefits: Beetroot juice has been celebrated in recent years as a superfood. Research has also found that drinking the purple stuff can reduce high blood pressure, boost athlete’s stamina and potentially help ward off dementia.

However, when eaten beetroot can also help protect against some types of cancer and can help reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks.

Serving suggestion: Serve beetroot with goat’s cheese or as part of a salad. You could also create beetroot chutney or incorporate beetroot into your baking by adding it to the next batch of brownies you whip up.Bone, heart and brain health: Sardines

Sardines

Health benefits: Sardines promote bone health, heart health and also contain high levels of protein and iodine. Iodine is an especially important nutrient if you are pregnant, as a deficiency of iodine can affect the brain development of unborn babies.

The NHS recommends that pregnant women try to eat two portions of oily fish each week, but no more than two portions.

Serving suggestion: Sardines are a versatile fish that can be added to pasta dishes, pies or served grilled with a simple dressing, such as mustard, olive oil and lemon.   For an extra hit of iodine serve your sardines with kale.

Ref:  https://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/11-foods-fridge-080017699.html

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Top 7 face-friendly foods

Face-friendly food 1: Berries

Berries act as the perfect healthy skin pick 'n' mix as they provide the perfect combo of antioxidants and vitamins C and E in an easy pick-up package. Vitamin C is really face-friendly as it helps produce collagen, the facial framework tissue which keeps your complexion plump and smooth. Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries are some of our favorites and easy as to get into your daily diet, but make sure they are eaten fresh and unheated; you'll get the most antioxidants and vitamins that way.

Berries are a great source of skin-friendly nutrients

Face-friendly food 2: Wholegrains

Wholegrains are a facial super food as they are fantastic for your digestion, and when your body is working to get rid of waste and toxins efficiently it shows on your skin. Go for brown or wholemeal pasta, rice and breads to get your wholegrains as well increase your intake of fiber. These foods not only boost digestion transit they are also great sources of iron and another skin-loving nutrient, vitamin B as well as helping you to feel full and satiated.

Face-friendly food 3: Cucumber

Okay, so you can slice off a couple of rounds and pop them on your eyes too, but the nutritional properties of cucumber make them a skin-friendly food to eat as well. Cucumber has high water content and staying hydrated has to be one of the golden rules when it comes to good nutrition for your skin. Boost your cucumber intake by including them as crudités, in salads and even in drinks - cucumber whizzed up with yogurt, mint and a dash of milk makes a delicious Lassi.

Face-friendly food 4: Salmon

Oily fish is super skin-friendly as its rich in the essential lipids (fats) that the skin needs to be healthy. The fatty acid Omega 3 is your friend when it comes to maintaining a healthy and young-looking complexion as it maintains skin elasticity and works to keep cell membranes healthy. Other examples of oily fish include trout, mackerel, tuna, anchovies and sardines.

Face-friendly food 5: Dark leafy greens

Spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, and swiss chard are all great examples of dark leafy greens that are fantastic for maintaining healthy skin. It's all to do with their super levels of antioxidant, vitamins A, C, E and the mineral iron - which is essential for keeping your blood healthy and your skin bright. If you are not a great lover of greens you can always add them to a smoothie or sneak watercress, rocket or baby spinach into salads and sarnies to ensure you get your fill.

Face-friendly food 6: Beans

It's the existence of isoflaves - potent antioxidants that make beans a fabulous face-friendly food. Antioxidants are great because they reduce the free radicals in your body (which cause aging) and make you look and feel great.  And black beans, chickpeas, lentils and soybeans are good choices of beans/legumes to incorporate into your diet.

Face-friendly food 7: Extra virgin olive oil

Integral to the Mediterranean diet, extra virgin olive oil can help nourish your skin from the inside out. High levels of the antioxidant vitamin E and source of the 'good fats' are what makes extra virgin olive oil so skin-beneficial. If you don't already, try using it in place of your regular cooking oil and include a drizzle on salads, pasta and pizza.

Ref:  http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/7-face-friendly-foods-083020952.html

Top foods to keep you young

Most of us are keen to stay looking as fresh and young as possible, and although there's no way to pause or turn back the clock, there are few age-proof strategies we can employ to make sure we stay looking good. Maintaining a healthy and well-balanced diet is one approach, and the good news is that there are some foods that are thought to give you extra ammunition when it comes to combating the signs of aging.



Green tea: There is no end to the benefits of this super drink; green tea boasts a wealth of benefits that earns it the top spot in our anti-aging food list. Green tea is believed to help regulate blood pressure, lower blood sugar, boost the immune system, lower cholesterol and studies have even shown that green tea can be effective at preventing cancer. That's as close to the elixir of life as you can get



Leafy greens: Whilst eating spinach won't be enough to turn you into Popeye, it's certainly excellent for boosting the body's immunity from illness. Spinach and other leafy foods like kale and collard are high in folate which is vital in preventing DNA and blood vessel damage. If you can maintain a healthy circulatory system you are reducing your risk of developing conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and dementia.



Dark chocolate: Who would have thought this sweet treat would feature in an anti-aging list, but the good news is chocolate can help fight against some signs of aging due to its cocoa content. Cocoa is rich in a group of antioxidants called Flavinoids which help preserve healthy function of the blood vessels. And healthy youthful circulatory system lowers risk of high blood pressure, type II diabetes, kidney disease and dementia. Don't go overboard though, a square a day is a good guide and make sure you go for the over 70 per cent cocoa bars.



Soy products: Like fish, soy products such as tofu are also a great alternative source of protein than red meat or even dairy, since they have little or no saturated fat. A diet that's low in saturated fat will reduce your risk of developing heart disease and lower blood pressure. As a staple part of the Japanese diet, soy products are great at helping keep down cholesterol and are a useful addition to a healthy diet.



Yogurt: Judging from their frequently bad press, you might assume that all forms of bacteria are out to get you. Thankfully, this couldn't be further from the truth. 'Good' bacteria is great for regulating the immune system, by increasing its antibodies and preventing the rise of pathogenic organisms like salmonella and E.coli. Many yoghurts include a high volume of 'good' bacteria that help maintain gut health and diminish the incidence of age-related intestinal illness. Yogurt is also rich in calcium, which can help stave off osteoporosis.



 Red wine: A glass of red wine adds up a good dose of anti-aging elements including polyphenol antioxidants, minerals, and resveratrol. Resveratrol which helps to increase 'good cholesterol' levels in the body and prevents blood clotting and a healthy circulatory system. Resveratrol found in red wine may also be beneficial for women during the menopause by reducing the risk for conditions for example breast cancer and osteoporosis that result from reduced oestrogen levels. Like the chocolate, it's not carte blanche to guzzle as much as you want; we suggest a standard glass every other day is a good approach.



Water: Few people — whether active or not — drink sufficient water, and side effects of even slight dehydration include headaches, fatigue and low concentration levels. Yet increasing fluid intake can increase energy levels, aid digestion, give skin a boost and help boost your anti-aging armoury. Concentrate on drinking little and often throughout the day, being extra vigilant after exercise or when you've been confined in a dry, overheated or air-conditioned environment.

Ref:  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/top-foods-to-keep-you-young-slideshow/

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