We are all looking for a powerful start for the new year with losing unwanted fat or just getting healthy. These power foods can help your body become leaner and healthier in the new year and have a much more powerful start to your best body in 2013.
Top 5 Power Foods/Ingredients
1.) Vegetable: Avocados
Avocados are rich, filling, and high in good fat.
Health Benefits: Lower levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and increase levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol. They are high in fiber with about 13 grams in each and they offer more potassium per gram than bananas!
How to Use Avocados:
-In a wrap, burrito, sandwich, or salad (Try my Kani Salad)
-As a salad dressing, like my Creamy Cado
-Use in your favorite guacamole recipe
-Use in a soup, such as our Chilled Avocado Soup
2.) Fruit: Citrus
Oranges and grapefruits are in season during the winter when other fruits are scarce.
Health Benefits: Just one orange or grapefruit covers your daily requirement of Vitamin C and includes a range of phytonutrients. They help the body fight against everything from the common cold to heart disease and cancer.
How to Use Citrus:
-Use the zest in many recipes, like Homemade Cranberry Sauce
-Peel and eat for a snack
-Squeeze and use as a REAL fruit juice
-Use in a fruit or garden salad
-Use as an addition to nuts, seeds, and goat cheese for a filling snack
3.) Protein: Essential Amino Acid, Leucine
Leucine is an essential amino acid and is a building block to lean muscle and aids in burning fat.
Health Benefits: It’s one of the 9 building blocks of protein that can only be obtained from outside food source. The more Leucine in your body, the more muscle you can build and the magic happens when stimulating protein synthesis. It helps your body preserve muscle mass while you lose the right kind of weight from fat. In turn, your metabolism stays up, which is the key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight for the long haul and that leaner look.
Where to Find Leucine: 
-Eggs, tofu, and soy products
-Fish, chicken, and lean meats
-Seaweed and spirulina
4.) Nuts: Almonds
Health Benefits: Packed with vitamins, minerals, and unsaturated fats. Almonds can protect your heart and lower your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. It is also a hefty dose of protein and fiber, which aid in muscle growth and digestion. It is a POWER snack because it keeps blood sugar steady and supports muscles and organs.
How to Use Almonds:
-As a crunchy topping for a salad
-Make almond butter
-Add them to Brooke’s Protein Bars
-Make Almond Milk
-Great snack with fruit, such as apples or oranges
5.) Seeds: Flaxseed
Flaxseed can be used whole or in meal.
Health Benefits: Flaxseed is one of the richest sources of essential amino acids. It is very anti-inflammatory to your body. It is also rich in fiber!
How to Use Flaxseed:
-In Smoothies
-In Banana Bread
-Sprinkle on oatmeal
-As a Vegan Egg Substitute
-In pancakes
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