G BOMBS – Nutrition Special Forces

Are you looking for nutritional, healthy, immune- boosting, disease fighting, longevity promoting foods ? Look no further. Here come the G-BOMBS!

I came across this acronym while watching a Ted Talk “I love Nutritional Science” by Dr Joel Fuhrman, recorded in 2013.

Recently, I have been watching a lot of Ted Talks on various topics. Sports, Fitness, Well Being, Nutrition, Food, Healthy eating, all this while sweating it out one hour on the treadmill – ” Multi Tasking” I call it .

So what are G-BOMBS?

GREENS BEANS ONIONS MUSHROOMS BERRIES SEEDS.  The 6 most healthy foods to include in your diet.

G-BOMBS is an acronym, coined by Dr Joel Fuhrman, a Food Revolution Expert, author of the book Eat to Live and the book Eat to Health. Dr Fuhrman describes G – Bombs as the best anti-cancer, health-promoting foods on the planet

What stuck me was that it was such a simple acronym and so very easy to remember and include in your daily diet. We come across a plethora of articles and TV and YouTube programs on nutritional eating, micro macro nutrients and they sound more and more complex and difficult to follow with the most exotic ingredients.  This was not only easy to understand , but also to include as part of my daily diet.

So how do I include them in my diet everyday.

G : GREENS

Did you know that our closest living relatives – chimpanzees and gorrilas – consume tens of pounds of green leaves every day ?

How many of us heard our grandmother say ” eat green vegetables, they are good for the eyes”.

I include one green vegetable every day in my meal , either lunch or dinner – leafy greens salad, broccoli, spinach, bok-choy, green beans or Indian Saag. You can have it as an accompaniment to your meat, fish or as a main meal.

Amongst the host of properties what I would like to point out is that leafy greens is a plant protein that is packed with beneficial phytochemicals. Green vegetables ( such as broccoli ) are also rich in folate (the natural form of folic acid), calcium, and contain small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Leafy vegetables are also anti-oxidants and said to promote healthy vision.

B : BEANS

How many of you love Rajma ( accompanied with rice) or Cholas/Channas ( accompanied with Bhaturas, Puris, Rotis)? Or baked beans on toast ?

Very easy to include this on a daily basis in one meal – breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Beans act as an anti-diabetes and weight-loss food because they are digested slowly, having a stabilizing effect on blood sugar, which promotes satiety and helps to prevent food cravings. Plus they contain soluble fiber, which lowers cholesterol levels ( Source : National Centre for Biotechnology USA and US National Library of Medicine).

O : ONIONS

Staple diet in India. We put onions in almost every food item, including our masala omlettes ! Ayurveda recommends starting the day with eating raw onions and lemon water.

I love onions raw or cooked or pickled in vinegar. The easiest of the G-BOMBS to include in your daily diet.

Other than their anti carcinogenic properties, onions have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular and immune systems, as well as anti-diabetic effects.

M : MUSHROOMS

Given my love for the fungi family I eat them on pizzas, as a vegetable, with pasta, risotto, in a vegetable biryani, in quinoa, boiled in a salad.

And today you get a variety of mushrooms – Portobello, Shiitaki, Button, Oyster, Enoki.  It can be included in various cuisines – Indian, Chinese, Italian, Mexican.

I sometimes just do a simple cheese n mushroom sandwich at lunch or a mushroom soup

Consuming mushrooms regularly is associated with decreased risk of breast, stomach, and colorectal cancers.

B : BERRIES

I eat them with my breakfast cereal, or yoghurt or between meals, easy to include them as your fruit snack every day.

The first Super Food, Berries are some of the highest antioxidant foods in existence. Not only are they an excellent food for the brain, but their plentiful antioxidant content confers both cardio-protective and anti-cancer effects.

S : SEEDS

Countless studies have shown the cardiovascular benefits of seeds. Seeds and nuts contain healthy fats and are rich in a spectrum of micronutrients, including phytosterols, minerals, and antioxidants.

Today they are considered as Super Foods – flaxseeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.

I include them with my breakfast cereal every day. If I don’t have cereal for breakfast, then will include them in a salad or have them with yoghurt.

For more on Dr. Fuhrman talk on nutrition and G-BOMBS watch his TED Talk below. You could fast forward to 6 mins when he starts talking about G-BOMBS. He calls them “immune system special forces.”