Nutrition Action Healthletter
CSPI

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10 Super Foods For Better Health!
At least one will suprise you...

1. Artery Crust

Marie CalendersJudging by the label, Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie has 520 calories and 12 grams of saturated fat. But look again. Those numbers are for half a pie. Eat the entire pie, as most people probably do, and you're talking more than 1,050 calories and 24 grams of sat fat (more than a day's worth).

 

   

1. Sweet Potatoes
sweet potatoes

A nutritional All-Star — one of the best vegetables you can eat. They're loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Bake and then mix in some unsweetened applesauce or crushed pineapple for extra moisture and sweetness.

 

2. Triple Bypass

Olive GardenCan't decide what to pick from a restaurant menu? No worries. Now you can order not just one entrée, but two...or three...all at once. Olive Garden's Tour Of Italy—Homemade Lasagna, Lightly Breaded Chicken Parmigiana, and Creamy Fettucine Alfredo—comes with 1,450 calories, 33 grams of saturated fat, and 3,830 milligrams of sodium. Add a breadstick (150 calories) and a plate of Garden-Fresh Salad with dressing (350 calories) and you've hit 2,000 calories (an entire day's worth) in a single meal.

 

     

2. Grape Tomatoes
grape tomatoes

They're sweeter and firmer than other tomatoes, and their bite-size shape makes them perfect for snacking, dipping, or salads. They're packed with vitamin C and vitamin A, and you also get some fiber, some phytochemicals, and (finally) great flavor.
 

3. Salt's On!

Cheesecake FactoryProgresso Traditional, Vegetable Classics, and Rich & Hearty soups are brimming with salt: Half a can averages more than half of a person's daily quota of salt. Instead, try Progresso's Healthy Favorites reduced-sodium soups. All the flavor, but up to 50 percent less salt than other canned soups..
 
 

3. Fat-Free or 1 % Milk
............(Skim) .............(but not 2%)


milk

An excellent source of calcium, vitamins, and protein with little or no artery-clogging fat and cholesterol. Likewise for low-fat yogurt. Soy milk can be just as nutritious — if the company fortifies it..

 

4. Extreme Ice Cream

Dove Ice CreamAn average container of Häagen-Dazs ice cream squeezes half-a-day's saturated fat and a third-of-a-day's cholesterol (egg yolks) into your artery walls and makes a 300-calorie down payment on your next set of fat cells—if you can stop at a petite half-cup!

 

 

     

4. Broccoli
milk

It has lots of vitamin C, carotenoids, and folic acid. Steam it briefly and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a sprinkle of lemon juice.
 
5. Factory Reject

CheesecakeThe Cheesecake Factory Chris' Outrageous Chocolate Cake has "layers of moist chocolate cake, chewy brownie, toasted coconut pecan filling, and creamy chocolate chip coconut cheesecake." Each five-inch-high slice weighs three-quarters of a pound and has 1,550 calories and 32 teaspoons of sugar. By the time you hit the exit, your arteries have 43 grams of saturated fat circulating in them that they didn't have when you walked in. It's a though you had ordered three McDonald's Quarter Pounders for dessert.

 

 

     

5. Wild Salmon

salmonThe omega-3 fats in fatty fish like salmon can help reduce the risk of sudden-death heart attacks. And wild-caught salmon has less PCB contaminants than farmed salmon.
 
 
6. Smooth Operatos

Smoothie"When you're looking for a healthy snack, try one of our Snack Right smoothies," says the Smoothie King web site. Many people assume that all smoothies are good for the body, whether it's on the beach or in the office. But Grape Expectations II, one of Smoothie King's "Snack Rights," contains 550 calories in the 20-ounce size. That's bad enough. But what about those who order the 40-ouncer? There's nothing "right" about a 1,100 calorie snack!

 

 

     

6. Crispbreads

CrispbreadsWhole-grain rye crackers, like Wasa, Ry Krisp, and Ryvita — usually called crispbreads — are loaded with fiber and often fat-free.

7. Top Secret

Pop Secret
Popcorn alone is a good-for-you whole-grain snack...but not when Pop Secret gets hold of it. Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter Popcorn Snack Size Bags has 9 grams of bad fat, 6 of which are trans, in just one snack-size bag (6 cups popped). Instead, try Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop or Smart Balance Smart 'N Healthy, both of which are made with no partially hydrogenated oils.

 

 

     

7. Microwaveable Quick-Cooking Brown Rice
rice

Quick-cooking (10 minutes) or microwaveable (90 seconds) brown rice are easy to prepare and more nutritious than enriched white rice. When the grain is refined, you lose the fiber, magnesium, vitamins E and B-6, copper, zinc, and phytochemicals that are in the whole grain.

8. Starbucks on Steroids

StarbucksThe Starbucks Venti (20 oz.) Caffè Mocha with 2% milk and whipped cream is more than a mere cup of coffee. Think of it as a McDonald's Quarter Pounder in a cup. Few people have room in their diets for 410 calories and 10 grams of saturated fat that this hefty beverage supplies. But you can lose all the bad fat and all but 130 calories if you order it with nonfat milk and no whipped cream.

 

 

     

8. Citrus Fruit

citrusGreat-tasting and rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber. Perfect for a snack or dessert. Try different varieties: juicy Minneola oranges, snacksize Clementines, or tart pink grapefruit.

9. Tortilla Terror

Chiptole BurritoInterested in a Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa)? Think of its 1,050 calories and 17½ grams of saturated fat and 2,610 mg of sodium as two 6-inch Subway Steak and Cheese, plus a scoop of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream! Getting the burrito with no cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat to 6 grams, but you still end up with 830 calories and 2,400 mg of sodium. Yikes!

 

 

     

9. Diced Butternut Squash

Diced Squash
Steam a slice or buy diced butternut sqash at the supermarket that's ready to go into the oven, a stir-fry, or a soup. It's an easy way to get payloads of vitamins A and C and fiber.

10. Stone Cold

Cold Stone CreameryInto the chocolate-dipped waffle bowl of a Cold Stone Creamery Gotta Have It Founder's Favorite goes, not just a 12-ounce, softball-sized mound of ice cream, but pecans, brownie pieces, fudge, and caramel. The tab: a startling 1,600 calories and 42 grams of saturated fat. That's roughly what you'd get if you polished off five single-scoop ice cream cones.

 

     

10. Spinach and Kale

Ready Pac Greens
These standout leafy greens are jampacked with vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, magnesium, iron, lutein, and phytochemicals.

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