functional foodz

Nourishment also has very much to do with nutrition and eating to promote good health. Your body is your temple, right? Here's what my friend Jess has to say about that—plus 11 foods she thinks we all should eat every week.


I took a class last semester called “Functional Foods” and it has really influenced me. Just yesterday I spent a fortune on blueberries and amazing green tea without a trace of guilt. Anyway, I am just going to quote from my teacher Dr. Mingruo Guo’s book, “Functional Foods: Principles and Technology” for a little clarity on functional foods.

“A food may have three functions: (1) providing energy in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and/or lipids, and basic nutrition; (2) giving us pleasure, i.e. aroma, color and taste and (3) having health benefits. A functional food may be similar in appearance to, or is a conventional food, is consumed as a part of normal diet and has physiological benefits and/or reduces the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutrition.”

Here are the selected foods that my functional foods teacher, Dr. Mingruo Guo, recommends consuming weekly.

• Tomatoes (lycopene)
• Spinach (folic acid)
• Broccoli (fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, sulfur compounds)
• Nuts (vitamin E)
• Oats (soluble fiber/prebiotics)
• Yogurt (probiotics)
• Pink color fish like salmon (omega-3 fatty acids)
• Berries such as blueberries (antioxidants)
• Garlic (antioxidants)
• Green Tea (antioxidants)
• Soy Foods (isoflavones)

Dr. Guo is also a huge fan of cranberries and pomegranates because of their high antioxidant content, as well as cold-pressed olive oil for its oleic acid and antioxidants.

Hope to see ya soon and remember…we are what we eat.

—By Jessica Lynn Mateik