Protect yourself! If you think you’ve been targeted by a scam, click here to get information and assistance from the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline!
Sisters Site Logo.svg
Oh no!
It looks like you aren't logged in to the Sisters community. Log in to get the best user experience, save your favorite articles and quotes, and follow our authors.
Don't have an Online Account? Subscribe here
Subscribe

Superfoods With Soul

Hungry for some collards or sweet potatoes? Many of the soul food staples we grew up eating are packed with phytonutrients. Here’s our pick of the nutrition crop.

Comment Icon
Sisters, AARP, superfoods
Offset
Comment Icon

Those dark green collards sprouting in Auntie’s summer garden — in fall and winter, too, if she’s in a warm climate — and dished up at her Sunday suppers?  They’re rich in A, K and other vitamins, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

 

Those greens are among the superfoods that fortify your body and, especially when they’re a familiar comfort, satisfy your soul. Here are some others:


  • Black-eyed peas are high in, among other nutrients, energy-giving iron.
  • The antioxidants and beta-carotene of sweet potatoes may help slow aging and fight cancer.
  • Cabbage, in the same family as collards, chard, kale and broccoli, also may be a cancer-fighter.
  • Fiber- and protein-rich okra has been called good medicine for some types of diabetes.
  • Squash — acorn, butternut, summer, winter, zucchini and so forth — comes in many varieties. Winter squashes, for one, may lower heart-damaging cholesterol.
  • Blackberries, with their Vitamin C, folate and manganese, are high in flavonoids and may boost brain health.