Some common ingredients can have powerfully positive effects on our health. Here are seven worth adding more of to your diet.
There have never been so many different foods to choose from. It can sometimes be difficult to know what nutrients to prioritise from one day to the next – should you focus more on protein, or fibre or vitamin C?
To make it easier, researchers have analysed more than 1,000 raw foods and ranked those that provide the best balance of daily nutritional requirements.
Here are seven of them– along with evidence as to why they should be included in your next shopping list.
Almonds
This nut is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E. Regular consumption has been found to possibly help with diabetes and to boost cardiovascular health by reducing "bad" cholesterol and boosting "good" cholesterol.
In one study, scientists asked 77 adults to eat 320 calories of almonds or crackers every day for 12 weeks. The participants all had risk factors for chronic diseases, like heart disease of type 2 diabetes – such as high blood pressure. After the 12 weeks, those who ate the almonds had lower levels of "bad" cholesterol, better gut health and less inflammation.
A 2022 study involving 87 people who ate either a portion of whole or ground almonds, or a muffin, every day for four weeks found that eating whole and ground almonds boosts their intake of monounsaturated fatty acids, fibre, potassium and other important nutrients.
The researchers found that butyrate was significantly higher among almond eaters. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that fuels the cells lining our colon. These cells provide the ideal condition for gut microbes to flourish, for the gut wall to be strong and healthy, and to best absorb nutrients.
In addition, whole-almond eaters had an extra 1.5 bowel movements per week compared to the other groups.
Swiss chard
This leafy vegetable is a rare dietary source of betalains, a phytochemical with "neuroprotective" qualities. This means it may help to protect our nervous systems from damage and the effects of ageing.
"Swiss chard contains nitrates, which help the body produce nitric oxide, a signalling molecule that improves the health of our circulation," says William Li, president and medical director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a US non-profit focused on disease prevention.
This helps lower blood pressure, improves blood flow and heals the lining of blood vessels that can be injured during ageing, Li adds.
Swiss chard also contains polyphenols, including quercetin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin that are "powerful antioxidants that protect our cells and help to lower inflammation", he says.
Swiss chard is also a good source of fibre, and contains magnesium (needed for cellular energy), vitamin K (needed for blood clotting) and lutein, which is important for eye and brain health.
Swiss chard is especially beneficial for older adults who want to improve blood flow, maintain vision health, and keep up with brain, heart, and general vascular health, Li says.
The best way to consume Swiss chard, Li says, is to not overboil it, as this will remove some of the nutrients. Also, he adds, the leaves of Swiss chard are where most of the beneficial nutrients are stored.
Watercress
This leafy green vegetable belongs to the brassica family (which also includes broccoli, cabbage and kale).
Watercress contains high amounts of B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, C, E), as well as calcium, magnesium and iron, and polyphenols.
It also contains lutein and beta-carotene, which help to support eye health and immune function.
Regularly eating watercress may also help to lower inflammation in the body – which is known to increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes over the long term – and reduce levels of unhealthy cholesterol.
Watercress also contains phenethyl isothiocyanate, a natural compound linked to its ability to slow down cancer cell growth. Along with broccoli, watercress is known to be the best source of phenethyl isothiocyanate.
Watercress was ranked the top antidepressant plant in a 2018 study by the World Journey of Psychiatry. This was because of its density of nutrients, including iron, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, potassium and vitamins.
Beetroot… greens
Despite beetroot being widely consumed, we almost always just eat the root, he says – despite them containing lots of nutrients and beneficial compounds.
"Beetroot is, in practice, commonly understood as the root itself, and this is how it is typically sold, prepared, and remembered in everyday life. As a result, the leaves tend to fall outside usual dietary habits and are often simply discarded.
"Cultural habits strongly shape what's considered edible or desirable, and in some contexts, leafy parts of vegetables are viewed as secondary or are simply unfamiliar in everyday cooking." This goes for numerous other vegetables too, Ponte says, many of which are also packed with nutrients.
The leaves of beetroots are packed with beneficial calcium, iron, vitamin K and B group vitamins (especially riboflavin).
Beetroot leaves tend to contain higher levels of proteins and minerals, and contain phenolic compounds associated with antioxidant activity, says Luis Gustavo Sabóia Ponte, a researcher at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) and University Professor at Universidade Paulista (Unip) and Centro Universitário Senac.
In a 2019 study of overweight and obese adults with high levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol, participants ate freeze-dried beetroot leaves for four weeks, and saw their LDL cholesterol lower.
Last year, Ponte set out to establish whether the nutrients in beetroot leaves are bioavailable – which would suggest we're able to digest and benefit from their contents.
The study showed that beet leaves remain biologically active after undergoing simulated digestion in the lab. The digested leaves showed antioxidant activity and helped protect DNA against oxidative damage.
Ponte also tested the digested leaves in colorectal cancer cells and saw a reduction in cell growth and colony formation.
However, he says, caution must be applied to the findings. While some of the compounds present in the leaves remained available after simulated digestion, others, including vitexin and apigenin, were still detected after digestion, although in lower amounts.
Ponte's simulated digestion showed what happens mostly up to the small intestine, and excludes the colonic phase – which is the final part where the large intestine processes leftover waste. It's also where, Ponte says, gut bacteria can transform parts of these compounds and potentially modify their effects.
Fully confirming that we can access all the nutrients in beetroot leaves would require human and lab studies that take the full digestive process into account, Ponte says.
Still, Ponte says his findings helped demonstrate that beetroot leaves are a potentially valuable food.
Chia seeds
These tiny black seeds are densely packed with fibre, protein, a-linolenic acid, phenolic acid and vitamins, including high amounts of B vitamins.
They contain phytochemicals that can help protect the heart and liver, and omega-3 fatty acids that help support the immune system.
They have been linked to numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease, improving levels of healthy cholesterol, reducing blood pressure and lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.
But there's evidence to suggest we may not be benefitting from chia seeds as much as we possibly could.
Rachel Burton, professor at the University of Adelaide in Australia, had already been studying dietary fibre for a long time when she decided to look into chia seeds.
"There were – and still are – many health claims all over the internet associated with consuming chia seeds, particularly linked to benefits to our gut microbiome, but there didn't seem to be much solid science to support them," she says.
One of these benefits, she saw, was their high fibre content.
"Dietary fibre is a key dietary component and most of us don't eat enough of it – if the claims about chia were incorrect, and people were paying for an expensive foodstuff on this basis, then this is important to know," she says.
In her 2023 study, Burton did a series of lab tests comparing whole chia seeds – which is usually how we consume them – and ground chia seeds. What she found in the lab suggested that eating chia seeds whole can prevent us from truly absorbing the nutrients they contain.
Chia seeds are made of two components: the mucilage on the outside of the seed, which contains fibre, and the omega fats inside the seed, particularly omega-3.
"By eating chia seeds whole, it means that the nutrients that are touted are not actually available," she says.
The mucilage doesn't come off the seed, and the omega fats are trapped inside the seed.
"So unless you chew everything for ages, the seeds pass through your gut essentially unchanged," Burton says.
Therefore, grinding the chia seeds makes the omega fats more accessible. Burton advises grinding other seeds, too, for the same reason, including flax and linseed.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin is harvested around the world for its peel, flesh – and its seeds.
Pumpkin seeds contain high amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, which are associated with numerous health benefits and a lower risk of many diseases.
But research suggests the amount of fat in the seed can vary from one pumpkin variety to another, and there are around 150 varieties of pumpkins worldwide.
Pumpkin seeds also contain linoleic acid, oleic acid, and palmitic acid, which have been shown to support heart health.
Pumpkin seeds have also been shown to have neuroprotective benefits. This means they can help to protect our nervous systems against damage to the brain, nerves or mental health due to constant exposure to toxic substances, including lead and mercury, some medicines, agricultural insecticides and certain alcoholic drinks.
In a study published in 2025, scientists divided 50 rats into five groups. For two weeks, one group received a basic diet, and the others were given either roasted or raw pumpkin seed supplements in two different amounts.
The rats who had the pumpkin seeds all showed improvements in anxiety, cognition and memory. Roasted pumpkin seeds showed the most benefits – potentially, the paper states, because the roasting process makes the seeds' nutrients more bioavailable by breaking the cells down and releasing antioxidants linked to the cell's walls.
Dandelion greens
When it comes to eating a healthy, varied diet, one of the main barriers is how available these foods are. Luckily, dandelion greens are abundant and available to most of us once spring has arrived.
Dandelion greens may not seem, at first glance, to be an obvious kitchen staple. But they are packed with beneficial compounds that have anti-inflammatory and even anti-cancer effects. Some studies show links to lower risk of heart disease, too: although, in one review, researchers say there is insufficient research on humans to draw any conclusions here.
Dandelion greens are also a rich source of phenolic acids, flavonoids, vitamins (A, C, E, K and B) and minerals (calcium, sodium, magnesium and iron).
Dandelion leaves are consumed all over the world – in salads and soups, as seasoning and syrups, and in wine, or as tea and coffee substitutes.
Courtesy: BBC
