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Superfoods not only route to healthy life

Today's roster of superfoods packs more power than an NFL lineup, even more than the Buffalo Bills. Eat right, and you can dramatically slow your rate of aging and lower your risk of disease. The trouble? Not everyone can eat these superfoods.

Whether you're allergic to nuts, don't drink wine or just absolutely, positively would never voluntarily chew and swallow anything containing fish, you're not shut out of the health benefits. Here's what to eat or drink instead:

The superfood: Alcohol

Why it's good: Sipping wine or beer in moderation may reduce your odds for heart disease by more than 25 percent.

What to have instead: Put a plant-based "rainbow" on your table. You'll get the heart-protecting compounds in red wine — resveratrol, quercetin and catechins — from blueberries, red grape juice (made from 100 percent grapes), apples, onions, grapefruit, black tea and even peanuts.

These compounds help prevent risky blood clots, stop free-radical damage better than vitamins C and E alone, stave off heart rhythm disorders and counter the inflammation that makes a mess of blood vessel walls. Add fish, dark chocolate, garlic and nuts to your meals, and you can cut your risk for heart disease by nearly 75 percent, without a drop of the hard stuff.

The superfood: Fish

Why it's good: Having fatty, nonfried fish three times a week gives your body a good squirt of omega-3 fatty acids, the super-fat that acts like a handyman inside your arteries and also helps with immune function and brain repair. It lowers triglycerides and blood pressure, makes blood less sticky (clot-prone) and cuts your odds of out-of-sync heartbeats (arrhythmias). Wild salmon, mahi-mahi, catfish, flounder and tilapia are top sources for the two omega-3s your body loves best: DHA and EPA.

What to have instead: Start with DHA-rich foods, such as walnuts (2.5 grams of omega-3 per ounce) and omega-3-enriched eggs and

orange juice. But because it's hard to get enough, reach for fish oil supplements. Pop enough to get 3 grams of DHA and EPA a day. Or just pop 600 mg of pills containing DHA from a vegetarian source like algae (where fish get their DHA from). These are much smaller pills and have no fish taste or smell.

The superfood: Nuts

Why they're good: These tiny power foods are packed with fiber, protein and an impressive mix of good fats (especially walnuts) that help lower your risk of diabetes, drop blood pressure and cool chronic inflammation. An ounce a day can lower the rate of heart disease by as much as 40 percent. And nut-eaters lose more weight than nut-avoiders, presumably because they curb your appetite. Plus, eating nuts before high-carbohydrate dishes (pasta, corn on the cob) helps keep your blood sugar steady, not soaring.

What to have instead: If you're allergic to nuts, get their monounsaturated fats from avocados, canola and olive oils, olives and even dark chocolate. But if you're only allergic to the calories in nuts, give 'em a second chance. Have a small handful every day, a half-ounce only has about 100 calories.

The superfood: Skim milk

Why it's good: It's a rich source of bone-protecting calcium, vitamin D and other minerals.

What to have instead: If you're lactose-intolerant, try a brand that adds lactase, the enzyme your body needs to digest milk sugars, or take lactase tablets before you drink.

If you just don't do milk, then aim for 1,500 mg of calcium per day from other sources (also be sure to get 400 mg of magnesium and 1,000 IU of vitamin D; 1,200 if you're over age 60). For supplements, we prefer calcium citrate to calcium carbonate. Calcium citrate is more easily absorbed, so you can take it anytime, not just with meals. (Your body can only absorb up to 600 mg of calcium in two hours, so keep citrate chewables in the car and pop one every time you turn over the ignition.)

Whenever you can, load up on other calcium-rich foods. Black-eyed peas, baked beans and canned salmon with the bones (they're tiny and safe) are good, and a cup of boiled collard greens or spinach packs as much as a glass of skim milk.

The YOU Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of the best-selling "YOU: The Owner's Manual" and "YOU: On a Diet." To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home. Distributed by King Features Synd

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