The 11 Healthiest Foods You're Not Eating

the pomegranate lobby must know some very powerful people. pomegranate everywhere. several years ago you couldn't even get your hands on pomegranate ANYTHING 11 months of the year. can someone please investigate this?

Dwight, nobody likes beets. Why can't you grow something people like, like candy? I could use a piece of candy right about now.

-Michael Scott

Cool, every thing up there but #1 & #2 are yummy!

And even #1 is yummy when pickled!

Canned Pumpkin + Instant Oatmeal + One Splenda + Pumpkin Pie Spice = HEAVEN!!!!

A good number of these could be made into ice cream. Think of it: Pomegranate ice cream with blueberries! Canned pumpkin ice cream with cinnamon!

A number of the remainder could become a very enjoyable salad -- Swiss chard, cabbage, and sardine (hey, you use them in a Caesar salad, so why not?). Just go light on the oily dressing, or just use a spritz of vinegar.

I'm just surprised that they didn't include red wine (in moderation). The same compounds responsible for the red color and velvety mouthfeel of red wine are also responsible for lowering LDL levels -- it's the reason the French don't die off en masse due to heart attacks, despite traditionally eating fatty foods.

@Jaysyn: #2 is yummy also when 'krauted and put on a hot dog. Although I'm sure that's not how it's supposed to be eaten to get full nutritional value out of it.

@ corkdork

I had to look up the word 'moderation' because I was fairly certain you meant 1 bottle per day. Which mean's I'm healthy as a French ox!

Borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht borscht!

@corkdork: The didn't include red wine in this list because many people are already drinking it - this is a list of good for you things that most people don't eat or eat very rarely.

The = They - arg, can we please have an edit button?!!!!

Ah a thread just for me.

How to eat #2 in a healthy manner?

Quick Slice Salad (aka Hippie Slaw)

1. Shred some cabbage. (the pre-shredded stuff is handy but goes bad really quick.)
2. Put some salt on the cabbage and mix it up. Set aside while you prep the rest of your meal.
3. The salt will draw out some of the juice from the cabbage, crisping it up and making a start for the dressing. Add some lemon juice and honey. Feel free to experiment. I put in shredded green onion when I have it. For a more traditional slaw add in some sour cream and hot sauce.

Cabbage is also good in asain-style dishes.

And the best cooked cabbage dish EVER is Colcannon. (make some mashed potatoes- I like red ones with the skin still on. Shred some cabbage and lightly cook it with some green onions and butter. Stir into potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and put a big pat of butter on top. If neccecary, microwave to melt the butter. Perfect for a classy St Patrick's day meal with some lamb stew or chops. Or any day you need some lumpy buttery comfort food.)

where oh where did my very helpful comment go?

Wasn't oat bran the savior of humanity a few years ago?

Now it is not even in the top 10

Extra Credit Answer: Thanksgiving.

@Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen: Read the d@#* article people - it's a list of healthy foods that people DON'T eat very often.

I've had 1 - 5, 7 & 10 on the list within this week, though my 5 was pomegranate fruit and my 10 were fresh not frozen. Why the qualifiers on blueberries & pumpkin (frozen and canned respectively)? Are we consumers that dumb that we wouldn't know these items are available out of season in those forms? And since I'm nitpicking, are cinnamon and tumeric really food? Anything that is not able to stand alone as a dish and that provides no nourishment shouldn't qualify...

Canned Pumpkin? I'd never have guessed...

@HungryGrrl: seconded (Colcannon as the best cooked cabbage dish)

Does having sardines via Wocester sauce count? oh, nevermind, those are anchovies...

Cabbage FTW. How I love it as a compliment to my BBQ pork.

Well damn, only two of those really work with alcohol.

I thought of hell would be me sitting there being served Sardines & prunes. There is no in hell way you are getting me to within 100 feet of a Sardine. Prunes can keep their shriveled husks just as far thank-you-very-much.

As for beets....they are best either pickled or roasted in da oven with Turnips, Parsnips, and Carrots. Yum.

I see the first three in seed catalogs all the time with unconvincing promises of "mild flavor." I have never wanted to take the plunge - what would I do with an especially productive plot of beets? I already barely find use for 2 radishes a year and those are super easy to grow.

Frozen blueberries are my favorite food.

@consumersaur: But a few more than two could be turned into alcohol. ;)

I actually eat seven of those items quite often.

Being southern though, I can't say I eat all of them in a very healthy manner.

Fried cabbage or pickled beets, anyone?

@surreal: so true,

this years new fashion fruit is supposed to be the MANGOSTEEN

Pomegranate (juice) prices make gasoline prices seem like tap water. Otherwise, I'd drink it.

@NameGoesHere: I'm with you. I'm from the south & I love cabbage when cooked with fatback. Mmmm! Kinda sucks the healthiness right out of it though, I guess.

Everything in moderation, though!

@mgy:

Why FROZEN blueberries? Are they healthier than fresh blueberries?

@sir_eccles: Thank you that!

That list is totes missing the deep fried oreos, cotton candy, and funnel cake.

I don't know what Swiss chard and tumeric are... so that probably says something about me.

Everything else is pretty tasty but most aren't things I eat often. I'll have to step that up.

Beets FTW! Love 'em!

Be forewarned tho, they turn your poop red.

Turmeric is a spice that turns things yellow. It's used in a lot of dishes in place of saffron, since saffron costs a metric assload per ounce. I eat TONS of turmeric, it's not hard to get a lot of. Learn to make like one kind of curry or alu gobi or something and you'll get your yearly quota of turmeric.

I think they should have included rutabaga, which is absurdly high in vitamin C, potassium, calcium, vitamin A, and fiber (and even has folate, which not a lot of veggies do); and kale, which is the calcium-est green veggie possible, also high in A, potassium, and C. Both are big on the phytochemicals too.

I guess some people eat kale, but hardly anybody even knows what a rutabaga is, and both are easy to prepare in non-vile ways. Whereas I have yet to find a non-vile way to eat cabbage (and kale's better for you than cabbage, so there).

I LOVE beets. Can't stand them pickled, but boil them and I'll eat 'em until my various bodily excrements turn bright red. I cannot wait for our CSA farm to start picking beets.

Sardines are pretty much the only thing on this list that I'm iffy about.

@harvey_birdman_attorney_at_law: Same question, why FROZEN blueberries and CANNED pumpkins? Do they add something in the process?

Beets are pretty easy to grow and their leaves are good in salad mixes. So as they grow you can snip a few leaves here and there and then do whatever you want with the beet.

I don't even know what turmeric is. :(

@crabbyman6: Turmeric is an orange-looking spice, used in a lot of Inidan recipes. You'll find it in curry powder blends.

I already eat a lot of these regularly.

Beets are among my favorite vegetables. They are wonderful roasted and then added to salad.

@savvy999:
...and they turn #1 pink. Which is freaky enough to enjoy on its own merits.

There's an awesome recipe in "How to Cook Everything" for Beet Roesti. It's essentially beet hash browns, and it's ridiculously good. If your only encounter with beets has been in pickled form, give it a shot--they can be really rich and delicious when cooked. Be prepared for your food processor to look like it's bleeding when you do the dishes. Totally worth it!

@corkdork:

Umm, Caesar salad has anchovies in it, not sardines.

@Saboth:
There are good sources of reasonably priced Pomegranate juice. It depends on whether it's imported or domestic. Some of the imported stuff is pricey. But the California POM products are reasonably priced.
I participated in an investigational study utilizing Pomegranate juice and monitoring it's effects on metastatic cancer. I don't know if it works for everyone, but it did wonders for me.

If you can find it in season, pomegranate fruit is delicious too. But it's not a year-round thing in most stores.

The mistake a lot of people make is believing that beets are food and not some sort of medieval torture device.

I had several Korean suite mates in college. They ate kim chee which apparantly has something to do with aged cabbage mixed with festering animal flesh packaged in fermented sewage or at least that's what the entire dorm smelled like when they opened it up.

It's turned me off from cabbage for a little while.

I like cabbage as long as it hasn't been cooked or pickled. Gimme a coleslaw, lightly tossed in mayo with heaps of crushed black pepper and I'm in a happy place.

I should probably give beets a second chance. They're just so mauve.

I started eating sardines every day about 6 months ago, and my blood numbers have improved dramatically. Good Stuff, Maynard!

Try to eat a spoon full of cinnamon with out drinking anything. Its quite interesting.

I love pickled beets and onion -- they come together in a jar, although the brand name escapes me -- right from the fridge. For some reason I don't like beets warm.

Pomegranate juice is delicious but that stuff is EXPENSIVE.