Three surprising foods that are most underrated

Three surprising foods that are most underrated

What you eat and drink plays a huge part in how your body functions. Naturopathic doctors like Dr. Juli Mazi have long touted the benefits of a healthy diet. Yet, people are still often amazed at the potential rewards on offer. That’s especially true when it comes to frequently overlooked foods. To demonstrate, she has chosen to highlight just a trio of her favorites.

Turmeric root

Turmeric is most commonly seen as a dried spice. However, the fresh root is also available in many grocery stores. It’s a massively overlooked ingredient. That’s because turmeric boasts antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. As such, it’s excellent for your liver.

Today, your liver is all too often burdened with toxins. Whether voluntarily introduced or the result of involuntary exposure, these toxins mean that your liver has to work harder than ever in humankind’s history. That’s why she says it’s such a good idea to give it the care and attention it deserves.

Turmeric offers precisely this sort of care and attention. As the body’s filter, the liver purifies your blood, keeping it and your body detoxified. When the liver is congested, you can experience high cholesterol and hormone imbalances, she reports. That’s in addition to problems with your metabolism, reduced immune function, and more.

Regularly consuming turmeric can prevent such occurrences by helping to keep your liver in tip-top condition. Eating the root is the easiest way to enjoy this surprising and most underrated food. However, the same benefits are achieved using the spice or a prepared turmeric tincture or capsule.

Local honey

Another of Dr. Mazi’s most surprising and underrated foods is local honey. Among those who benefit most from introducing local honey into their diets are asthmatics and allergy sufferers. For many sufferers of asthma and allergies, their symptoms are related to pollen and primarily affect their lungs and sinuses.

One of the best ways to reduce such symptoms is to introduce a healthy pollen source into the body, such as local honey. By introducing local honey and its pollen to a different organ system, your body’s immune system recognizes that it’s not a threat. Eventually, your body and its immune system will stop responding to it with allergic reactions and other symptoms.

In this instance, that’s the digestive tract versus the lungs and sinuses. Those looking to reap the benefits of this most surprising and underrated of foods should start with just a tiny amount. For example, a quarter of a teaspoon of local honey daily, increasing this quantity slowly and incrementally every day or two.

What’s most important, though, she advises, is that it’s strictly locally produced honey. That’s because it’s generally local pollen to which people react most severely.

Apple cider vinegar

The third and final surprising ingredient that’s most underrated is apple cider vinegar. While not strictly a food, the benefits of this often overlooked ingredient are just as impressive as those seen from the likes of turmeric root and local honey. Dr. Mazi recommends around half a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar roughly 15 minutes before each meal.

Part of a concept called food hygiene, taking apple cider vinegar in this way can have many benefits. For starters, it promotes what naturopathic doctors like her call “the digestive cascade”. This digestive cascade prepares the body to be ready to break down and absorb food.

Other benefits include minimizing acid reflux while simultaneously helping with malabsorption, constipation or diarrhea, and other health woes. It’s also an excellent source of minerals, meaning it’s hugely beneficial even if you have no underlying health conditions.