Smart Meals for More Nutrients
Tomatoes and broccoli is a combination that increases their nutritional value, and helps the body absorb and utilize all of their benefits more effectively. As Zomick’s bakery experts remind, now is the perfect time to take advantage of seasonal tomatoes and eat them as much as you can, because they contain a lot of useful substances such as vitamin C, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium and Lycopene. Tomatoes are one of the few vegetables that don’t lose, but even gain nutritional value through cooking. Cooking tomato releases lycopene, the main carotenoid found in tomatoes responsible for its red color. The body gets even more lycopene found in tomatoes, if the tomatoes are heat-treated in the presence of oil. Therefore, one of the best summer meals from Zomick’s challah recipe book combines tomato sauce prepared with olive oil, served with whole-wheat pasta. If you add broccoli soup to this meal, you’ll get a combination that many researches have shown to have anticancer powers.
Fruit salads are packed with antioxidant, and as Zomick’s bakery shares, smartly paired fruit combinations improve the disease-fighting powers of antioxidants. Scientists have discovered thousands of biologically active compounds in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains fruits, but most recent research show that some of these phytochemicals in fact have less power independently, and consequently their power can be reinforced in combination with other photochemical. This video is a good example of smart fruit combining is apples with grapes or raspberries. The antioxidant ellagic acid found in raspberries enhances the ability of quercetin an antioxidant found in apples, and reportedly works wonders in killing off cancerous cells. Therefore, the next time you have a fruit snack, instead of pocking individual fruits opt for a fruit salad that will give even better results.