Powerful and Healthy Foods Women of Every Age Must Eat Every day!

When eating, your goal should be for your foods to add nutrients to your body, while keeping your digestive system intact, boosting your metabolism, strengthening your bones, and consuming those foods rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants. While food is supposed to taste good, consuming the right foods every day will ultimately enrich your body, and prolong your life. Power foods will also help to flatten your stomach, keep your skin glowing, and give you the boost of natural energy with healthy detoxing properties. The list below is a crash course in how women of any age should eat regularly to give yourself the best possible scenario to live a long and healthy life.

• Pistachios to help keep the mind clear - Savor every moment with The Mindful Nut. You’ll be the genius of portion control with this colorful power nut. Try eating them from the shell as opposed to buying them already shelled. Cracking each shell may help you slow down and eat mindfully. So crack, snack, and meditate on a healthy you.

• Organic whole-grains (including pasta) boosts energy - Whole-grain pasta is packed with B vitamins, which assist your body in converting food into energy. The polar opposite of processed grains products that lack fiber, and is full of sugar and artificial ingredients.    

• Bell Peppers  & Carrots help to protect your eyes - Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts are leading causes of vision loss, but foods rich in lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamin C, like bell peppers, can keep eyes sharp. A cup of sliced red, yellow and orange peppers contains nearly twice your daily vitamin C, plus 116 micrograms (mcg) of lutein, and 562 mcg of zeaxanthin. Don't forget about carrots which are rich in vitamin A (from beta-carotene), biotin, and vitamin K.     

• Help to flatten your belly with Avocados - Avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, which has been shown to help you drop weight, including weight from the problematic mid-section. In one study, people who got about 23 percent of their daily calories from good fats, had about 5 pounds less belly fat than those who ate a high-carb, lower-fat diet.

• Fight heart disease by eating Sardines - These piquant tasties are excellent sources of omega-3 acids, which decrease inflammation that can lead to blocked arteries. They also prevent blood clots that can cause heart attacks and strokes, and keep blood vessels smooth and supple. Eating about three ounces of sardines gives you about  1.3 grams of omega-3s (you need about 1 gram a day).

• Eat mushrooms to increase cancer-fighting antioxidants - One study showed that women who ate just one-third of an ounce of raw mushrooms a day (that's just one button mushroom) had a 64 percent reduction in breast cancer risk. That is amazing! Other research suggests that mushrooms reduce the effects of aromatase, a protein that helps produce estrogen – a major factor in some breast cancers.

• Eat dark chocolate to help with stress and fight other diseases -  More recent studies done by European researchers found that people who ate an ounce and a half of dark chocolate – about 200 calories worth—every day for two weeks produced less of the stress hormone cortisol and reported feeling less frazzled. Cortisol causes a temporary rise in blood pressure; consistently high levels up your risk for depression, obesity, heart disease and more. In short, cortisol is a culprit in weight loss.

• Spinach has key nutrients, and is dense - This leafy green beauty is high in vitamin K and also contains calcium and magnesium – a combo that may help slow the breakdown of bone that occurs as you get older – as well as folate, a B vitamin that helps prevent birth defects. And what's even more amazing is it packs only 7 calories per cup raw!

• All carbs are not created equally!  Potatoes are packed with healthy carbohydrates - Potatoes contain a fat-fighting compound called resistant starch that can help keep weight in check. One medium tater with the skin on will run you just around 100 calories, and with more potassium than bananas, potatoes also help fight heart disease by keeping blood pressure low. This dispels the myth that all carbs are bad for you, so remember it's not the potato, it's what you add to it. 

• Fight wrinkles with Broccoli - Just one cup of broccoli has 100 percent of your vitamin C, which is crucial for production of collagen, and gives your skin elasticity, says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D. It's also rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. This vitamin assists in cell turnover, so old skin cells are replaced with fresh (read: younger-looking) ones.

• Lentils are rich in Iron - Low-calorie lentils pack about 30 percent of your daily iron per cup cooked. About 12 percent of young women have low iron stores – at the extreme, that leads to anemia. But one study found that even women who were iron deficient (not anemic) had poorer performances on skill tests than those with normal levels. Cook lentils with low sodium, and reach for them in the fresh or frozen section of your local grocer as opposed to canned which are high in sodium.

• Boost your immunity with Apples - These smart and sweet, delights are rich in quercetin, an antioxidant that can bolster your body's disease-fighting abilities. In one study from Appalachian State University, indicated that just 5 percent of people who ate more quercetin came down with a respiratory infection over a two-week period, compared to 45 percent of those who didn't. Apples are delicious and powerful!

• Eat Parmesan Cheese to help strengthen your bones - Everyone knows that Calcium is key to preventing osteoporosis (especially in your 20s). Yogurt and nonfat milk are also rich in calcium,  but few people want to eat them three times a day? Incorporate Parmesan cheese into your diet; its 340 mg of calcium per ounce – compared to about 200 mg in cheddar or Swiss – goes a long way toward your 1000 mg daily requirement.