The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

July 1st, 2008 · 12 Comments

Reading the New York Times today, I came across a list of the 11 best foods you aren’t eating. The author, Tara Parker-Hope, asked Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, to compile a list of accessible foods that most of us should be eating, but aren’t. Interestingly, only one of these foods isn’t vegan…

Beets
Cabbage
Swiss Chard
Cinnamon
Pomegranate Juice
Dried Plums
Pumpkin Seeds
Sardines
Turmeric
Frozen Blueberries
Canned Pumpkin

I had to laugh when I saw this list. The number one item, beets, is something Jane can’t seem to bring herself to make. We’ve bought them at the farmers market once or twice, but for some reason they keep winding up in the compost pile. Jane speculates that’s because, as a child, she was forced to eat canned beets. She’s never gotten over the trauma. As I’m writing this we actually have a bunch of orange beets in the fridge. Perhaps this post will inspire Jane to do something with them.

I’m happy to report that we tend to eat most of these foods ourselves. Obviously, we don’t eat the sardines. Also, we don’t drink a lot of fruit juice, mostly water and tea… And the pumpkin is something we usually only have around Thanksgiving, but we’ve got 9 of the 10 foods (not including the sardines) in our home at the moment.

Now, off to get myself a handful of pumpkin seeds…

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Tags: Health

12 responses so far ↓

1 Lindsey // Jul 2, 2008 at

Can’t say I blame Jane on the beets! hehe

I think the only reason the sardines are on that list is because of the omega-3 fatty acids they contain, so if you’re getting a dose of avocado or uncooked olive or flax oil everyday, that should take their place. However, sardines/fish/other animals also contain types of fatty acids that don’t get synthesized very well by the human body (EPA and DHA), and most people get them via animal products *sigh*. These two acids occur in microalgae and seaweed (which is how it ends up in the fish), so the original source of it is vegan, but it’s most reliable to take in a supplement form. I don’t like how some nutritionists lead the masses to believe that they need animal products to be healthy.

Just a tidbit of info I learned from the really good nutrition book Becoming Vegan.
2 quarrygirl // Jul 2, 2008 at

so funny, i was at shojin on sunday, and i ordered the bento box which came with pumpkin. at first, i was disappointed…i thought there was no way i’d enjoy it. but then once i started eating it, it totally grew on me. it ended up being my favorite thing in the box! go figure. anyways, great list! i could definitely add that stuff into my diet.
3 Gary // Jul 2, 2008 at

Frozen blueberries…I guess they mean when blueberries are not in season? Otherwise, that would be sacrilege.
4 bytefultraveller // Jul 2, 2008 at

Had cinnamon in oatmeal for breakfast. Nice to know that my propensity to cinnamon is a healthy one.

Good list!
5 Lane // Jul 2, 2008 at

Lindsey,
Thanks for the info. And I’ve put the book on request from my library.

Hi QuarryGirl,
Jane and I almost went to Shojin on Sunday. Decided on mexican food instead. Yes, we thought the list was pretty easy to incorporate into daily life too. Although in reality, I can’t imagine eating pumpkin every day.

Hi Gary,
You think that way because you live on the east coast. Here, we have strawberries like you’ve never tasted, but the blueberries… well, let’s just put it this way, the best ones aren’t local, and we have about a two week window of goodness. Alas.

Hi Byteful,
Isn’t it a happy coincidence when the foods you love are actually good for you!
6 Sat // Jul 3, 2008 at

We too have some troubles fixing beats. When we do fix them, we usually just slice them up, toss in olive oil/salt/pepper and roast them in the oven. Using maple syrup and nutmeg for the basting is nice for a sweet alternative.
7 Gary // Jul 3, 2008 at

Shameless promotion: For those who may be inspired by beets finally being at #1 in a list, and are not chefs, here’s a discussion of easy and - according to some - flavorful beet dishes: http://www.animalwritings.com/2008/01/to-meat-eaters-easy-ways-to-reduce-meat_15.asp. The discussion continues here: http://www.animalwritings.com/2008/01/to-meat-eaters-easy-ways-to-reduce-meat_18.asp.
8 Amy // Jul 3, 2008 at

I have NEVER tried sardines and don’t intend to — Just not a seafood person! (I did try sushi for the first time ever last week, and I enjoyed it though…) But as for the rest of the stuff, I eat beets, pumpkin, CABBAGE, pomegranate juice (and seeds), plums and blueberries quite regularly
Great list!
9 Gary // Jul 3, 2008 at

Forgot to mention: The aforementioned discussions (for the most part) are aimed at people who don’t have the time and/or inclination to cook beets from scratch and are un-proud enough to use canned beets. In my case, that would be most of the people I know.
10 Lane // Jul 3, 2008 at

Hey Gary,
Jane is cautioning me to tell you NOT to hold your breath. But we’ve gotten a lot of inspirational tips from our readers, and maybe it’s time to get started….

Hi Amy,
Well, we’re certainly not going to advocate trying sardines (vegans here!). But the rest of the list… Eat up!
11 Allison // Jul 4, 2008 at

This list makes me laugh because it’s like a stocklist of my kitchen. All my favorite foods!! Now I know for sure that my diet is weird - or just atypical.
12 Lane // Jul 4, 2008 at

Hi Allison,
If you’re vegan, your diet is atypical! We comprise less than 3% of the US population. By definition, that makes us atypical.
Don’t feel to weird, we have all those things in our house too, excluding the sardines of course!