Power Up with Power Foods

Do you know the most powerful foods on the planet? Hint: look at the Wordle Word Cloud above.

After reading several articles and books touting various “power” or “super” foods, I decided to compare all the lists to find the foods that are broadly accepted as having special health benefits.

I looked at The Sonoma Diet, The Abs Diet for Women, The Bonus Years Diet, The Anti-Aging Diet (by Karen Ansel, R.D., Family Circle, August 2008), and The Top Super Foods (Good Housekeeping, April 2008).

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of duplication. I asked my sister, Eileen at The Artful Crafter, if she could represent this visually somehow and she came up with the great Wordle Word Cloud above.

The size of the Wordle text indicates the frequency each term was mentioned in the various food lists. So you can easily see that “Spinach/Greens”, ”Nuts” and “Berries/Bright Fruits” had the most recommendations, with “Whole Grains” running a close second.

For those of you who are more left-brained than Eileen, here are the stats – the number of lists in which each food is included:

5 Nuts, Berries/Bright Fruits and Spinach/Greens
4 Whole Grains
2 Dairy (Low/Fat), Dark Chocolate, Grapes/Wine (in moderation), Lean Meat, Olive Oil, and Tomatoes
1 Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Coffee, Curry Powder, Eggs, Fish, Garlic, Green Tea, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Tofu.

I should mention that some foods are counted more than once. For example broccoli, which is one of the Sonoma Powerhouse foods, is also included in the “Spinach/Greens” category.

Tags: power foods, super foods, Sonoma Diet, Abs Diet, Bonus Years Diet, Wordle word cloud