Power House Foods

Hey all!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

As I was staring at the ginger sitting next to my sushi yesterday, I thought back to Sarah's post from last week. Her New Year's resolution is too eat healthier by incorporating more power house foods such as quinoa and kale. Well I'm pretty good at incorporating these items into my everyday life...with the exception of ginger. I mean I like the flavor in cookies or pie, but straight up ginger, I'm not always the hugest fan.

However, I ended up buying a small amount yesterday to incorporate into tonight's dinner. With ginger on the mind I actually paid attention to the small amount of ginger sitting next to my sushi pieces. At this point I pay it no attention and maybe it even blends into the serving dish? I've tried to eat it, and it never ends with me smiling. For some reason I wanted to give it a try again yesterday. This time I broke off a small piece and ate it along with my spicy salmon, and....well, it was okay. I ended up eating almost all of it in fact!

So what exactly did I just gain by eating ginger? A 1 oz piece of ginger gives about 5 % of potassium, magnesium, copper, maganese, and vit B6. I suppose that isn't bad. But given the option I would pick a banana which provides 23% potassium, 15% magnesium, 9% copper, 30% maganese, 41% vit B6, plus more.

Research has boosted other benefits of ginger including menstrual cramp relief, cold and flu prevention, heart burn relief, reduces pain and inflammation, colon cancer prevention, reduced morning sickness, among others.

If the reduction in pain, particularly that of menstrual cramps is true, I will stuff ginger down my throat even if I don't like the taste. Okay, maybe not to that extreme, but I will- from now on, eat it with my sushi.

What foods with great health benefits are you averse to eating?