Most of us know that certain foods work really well together. For instance, tomato and feta cheese are a match made in heaven but did you know that pairing foods can turn them into super foods? Well here is a short list of foods that work when paired offer you many health benefits and a few that actually lose their super powers.

The good first

Eat tomatoes and avocado together and you have yourself a super food. Tomatoes contain lycopene (potent antioxidant), when eaten with avocado the fat helps your body absorb seven times more lycopene.

Fancy a side of brussel sprouts with your grilled steak? Most of you are probably shaking your head saying No! Well, give it a shot because brussel sprouts may rid your body of carcinogens that can form on meat when grilled. Carcinogens can promote nasty things like cancers. That doesn’t mean you should go ahead and char your meat on purpose thinking that eating brussel sprouts will stop any potential health problems but it is handy to know, if you can stomach sprouts.

Drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil over your zucchini, spinach or other dark green vegetables and you unleash another powerful antioxidant (carotenoid lutein), which may help protect against age related macular degeneration. Replace your low-fat dressing with an olive oil based option for your salads and the same benefits apply.

Now for the bad

Mixing alcohol and diet soda is no good. I know what you are saying, I can’t win! You do the right thing and reduce your high calorie soda with a diet version to be healthier and now you find out it’s not a good mix. It’s rough, I hear you. Here’s the deal though, diet soda’s when mixed with alcohol may actually make you get drunk faster.
Apparently sugary soda’s slow the emptying of your stomach so you get drunk less rapidly. I’d stick with diet soda but have a small snack before you drink, something like a bit of cheese and crackers which contain a good mix of fat, protein and carbohydrates which should help slow your stomach emptying. My message, moderation people, both with your drink and food!

This one just hurts, don’t mix coffee and breakfast cereal. I love coffee with my cereal. If I could combine them I probably would. Coffee bran flakes anyone?
It turns out that many cereals are fortified with iron, that’s good. The bad is that when you drink your coffee while eating cereal, an antioxidant called polyphenols can hamper your body’s ability to absorb the iron. That’s not so good. So give the coffee a miss while eating your cereal.

Speaking of coffee, you have to watch this commercial. Life as a 50′s housewife must have been so much fun


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Health + Lifestyle, Nutrition + Diet