Four Foods That Show You Really Are What You Eat

It’s an old cliché, but one with so much truth. So to help give you quick, easy, actionable tips for living as healthy a lifestyle as possible, we’re sharing a few foods that truly do reflect their benefits.

Walnuts
Has it ever occurred to you that a walnut looks like a brain? Maybe it is a coincidence but walnuts have a favorable lipid profile, specifically their polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) content. PUFAs are considered a “healthy” fat that can promote lowering total blood cholesterol as well as LDL and HDL cholesterol production. Alpha-linoleic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid and linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid are essential, meaning our bodies are not capable of making them. Walnuts are a great source of these essential omega-3 fatty acids needed for brain health. 1 ounce of walnuts (roughly 14 halves) has around 185 calories, 4 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbohydrate, almost 2 grams of fiber and 18 grams of total fat, most all of that being the healthy fats mentioned above.

Bok choy
Bok choy is a Chinese cabbage. Though it doesn’t come from a head, it instead has several white bunched stems with thick green leaves at the end. Bok choy can be eaten raw, cooked and with a variety of different dishes. One cup of bok choy has about 10 calories and 6% of your daily calcium needs. Knowing this, don’t the white stems reflect our bones? Dark leafy greens are also great sources of vitamin K, which also promotes bone health.

Carrots
You may not have thought about this before but if you slice a carrot, it looks like the human eye. This is no surprise as they are packed with vitamin A which promotes normal vision and helps our eyes adjust to different lights allowing us to see normally in the dark.
Beta-carotene, which kind of sounds like the word “carrot” is considered a pro-vitamin which means it converts to vitamin A in the body, acting as an antioxidant, promoting healthy skin integrity cell growth and health throughout the body.

Sweet Potatoes
One medium sweet potato with skin has about 105 calories, 24 grams of carbohydrate and 3.8 grams of fiber. When we consume carbohydrates, the beta-cells in a healthy pancreas are triggered to release insulin in response to this rise in blood sugar.
Individuals with type 2 diabetes can benefit from a diet high in fiber as it may slow stomach emptying.
Because carbohydrates break down more slowly, the sugars are released and absorbed more slowly, potentially preventing rapid spikes in blood sugar. Fiber also promotes feelings of satiety which can help prevent overeating.

The sweet potato is also rich in vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, which helps act as an antioxidant as well, which has anti-inflammatory properties.

So maybe a sweet potato looks a little like a pancreas after all.

Tomatoes
Tomatoes are red and contain “chambers” just like the heart. They are a functional food that is rich in fiber, antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, beta-carotene, folic acid, and lycopene.

Lycopene, which gives tomatoes their red color, is an antioxidant. Antioxidants are known to protect the body against free radicals. If the body has too many free radicals, oxidative stress in the body can occur.

Lycopene could also be an important factor when trying to improve one’s lipid profile which can reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis in combination with healthy diet and regular exercise.