Behnaz Sanjana delves into the simple, but little-known concept of food synergies.
How much of what you eat is used by the body and how much is eliminated as waste? Bioavailibility is the proportion of a nutrient that our bodies can absorb and use from a particular food, and depends on one’s gender, age, digestive health and overall fitness. However, if nutrients are paired with their ideal food partners, they not only work harder for our bodies, but also have a greater positive impact. By harnessing the power of food synergies, we crank up the potential of what certain nutrients can do for us.
Trust your grandmother’s instinctive wisdom and take clues from her recipes that paired certain ingredients with others (like milk and eggs, tomatoes and olive oil, or garlic and fish) for a reason.
Leafy Veggies and Orange Juice
Women who are anaemic, (low on iron stores) can be consistently tired, short of breath, get palpitations, and lacklustre skin, nails and hair. The remedy is an iron supplement, and plenty of green leafy vegetables (especially good old spinach), legumes, lean red meat, liver and shell fish.
Vitamin C, besides playing a role in growth, development and repair of body tissues and strengthening the immune system, facilitates better absorption of iron.
Action Plan: Drizzle salads with a lemon dressing, or swallow your iron supplement with freshly-squeezed orange juice.
Turmeric and Pepper
Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is highly anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. It is also touted to be an effective pain killer, and can slay cancer cells.
Piperine, also an anti-inflammatory compound, found in black pepper, helps relieve nausea, headaches and poor digestion. It enhances the absorption of curcumin in the bloodstream by 2,000-per-cent, thereby magnifying its effects in the body by enabling it to pass through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream.
Action Plan: Sip on a tisane of turmeric and black pepper, or a turmeric-pepper-almond milk latte.
Dairy and Eggs
Calcium, found abundantly in dairy, almonds, green produce, chickpeas and tofu is all-important for building stronger bones and preventing or stalling osteoporosis, a bone density disorder afflicting mature women. But no matter how much you ingest calcium-rich produce and supplements, it’s a lost cause without vitamin D from eggs, cheese, fatty fish, mushrooms and enough sunlight.
Action Plan: Treat yourself to fruit custard, a broccoli cheese omlette, or a salmon fillet with a side of greens.
Tomatoes and Healthy Fats
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that helps prevent cancer (especially of the prostate), heart and vascular problems, cataracts, and reduces inflammation for youthful skin.
Healthy fats like olive oil, and that in avocados, makes it easier for the body to absorb lycopene by increasing its bioavailability. Studies have found that eating salsa with avocado absorbed four times the amount of lycopene than when eaten by itself.
Action Plan: Enjoy your pizza or pasta guilt-free with a splash of olive oil, or add diced tomatoes to guacamole.
