Eating your way to good health - Date With a Dish - low-fat diet - Recipe

Ebony, July, 2002 by Charlotte Lyons

RELATED ARTICLE: Healing foods for common ailments.

(Medical and nutrition experts say the following food items can have beneficial effects on certain health conditions.)

HEART DISEASE

* Soy beans, soy protein, tofu, soy milk, soy burgers, soy nuts, etc.

* Garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, scallions and chives

* Carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, kale, broccoli, cantaloupe (antioxidant)

* Cucumber (cholesterol-lowering sterols)

* Citrus fruits, oranges, lemons, limes, etc. (decrease arterial plaque)

* Legumes, beans, peas and lentils

* Oatmeal and oat bran, barley

* Whole grains such as wheat, rye, wheat bran and rice bran

* Tuna, salmon, sardines

* Nuts and seeds, including walnuts, almonds, flax seeds

HYPERTENSION

* Fruits such as apricots, bananas, berries, grapefruits, grapes, mangoes, melons, nectarines, oranges and peaches (foods that may work to lower blood pressure are high in potassium and magnesium)

* Legumes such as kidney beans, pinto beans, lentils, peas and soybeans, chickpeas

* Vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, potatoes

OSTEOPOROSIS

* Dried beans

* Whole grains

* Dark green leafy vegetables such as collards, turnip greens, kale, mustard, broccoli

* Figs

* Apricots

* Yogurt, nonfat or low fat

* Milk, skim or low fat

* Sardines with bones

* Canned salmon with bones

* Blackstrap molasses

* Tofu

CANCER

* Red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, beets, squash sweet potatoes, red and yellow bell peppers (loaded with cancer-preventing antioxidant carotenoids)

* Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, rutabaga

* Garlic, mushrooms

* Legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds

* Berries such as strawberries, raspberries (rich in cancer-fighting ellagic acids and lycopene)