Food Couples That Will Double Your Meals Benefits
Stan and Bran, Tom and Jerry, Bonnie and Clyde. Some pairs are just meant to be. Some foods go well together too, and they are known as food couples, or food pairs.
If combined correctly, some foods will improve their nutritional value. Food couples also help your body absorb and use all of their benefits more effectively.
They have a total nutritional value greater than the sum of each food’s nutrients. It’s like adding 1 + 1 gives you 3 instead of 2.
Pretty much magic, right? Well it’s actually science. Read on to learn how to get the most out of your nutritious foods.
The Most Nutritious Food Couples
Want to get a bigger nutritional punch from your meals? Try out these 6 food couples that will supercharge your diet:
1⃣ Green Vegetables and Oil
Oil adding to green vegetables will improve the absorption of vitamin K (fat soluble), required for healthy bones and helps blood to clot quickly when there is an open wound.
Enjoy a simple salad of greens with vinaigrette or try a stir-fry of broccoli and spring greens.
2⃣ Peas and Rice
Most plants lack at least one essential amino acid, which means that it is not an ideal source of proteins. Combination of cereals and legumes provide a comfortable range of amino acids.
For example, peas compensate for rice defects.
3⃣ Eggs and Spinach
Eggs contain vitamin D, which helps to fix calcium in spinach. Put on a roll a little spinach and fried egg and you get a nutritious breakfast. Eggs go well with asparagus too.
4⃣ Beans and Tomatoes
Beans combined with tomatoes increase your iron intake for better muscle and brain function.
Vitamin C from tomatoes helps your body to easily absorb the iron from the beans. More iron means more hemoglobin production, which mean more oxygen transported to muscles and brain.
Iron deficiency can lead to weakness, poor concentration and fatigue.
5⃣ Apples and Raspberries
Combined, apples and raspberries improve the cancer-fighting powers of antioxidants.
According to Journal of Nutrition, the antioxidants found in raspberries enhance the ability of the antioxidants found in apples to decrease the number of cancerous cells.
6⃣ Green Tea and Lemon Juice
Consumed together, green tea and lemon juice help you get more from their antioxidants.
The antioxidants found in green tea (catechins), can help prevent cardiovascular diseases. To help your body absorb them easier, add a teaspoon of lemon juice into your green tea.
Enjoy your meals and try as much as possible to combine these foods for a better nutrition. Food couples are the simplest way to maximize your nutrients’ benefits.
