Top 20 Healthy Foods You Should Be Eating Every Single Day

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5. Dark Chocolate

See? We told you that eating healthy was not boring! Studies show that eating moderate amounts (one to 1.5 ounces) of dark chocolate each day slightly thins the blood, which can help with blood pressure and heart health. Dark chocolate also improves the immune system while reducing inflammation. The active ingredient in dark chocolate is epicatechin, which keeps the blood vessels flexible. Always choose a dark chocolate that has at least 70 percent cocoa. Milk chocolate and chocolates with less than 65 percent cocoa do not contain enough epicatechin to offer any real health benefits.

6. Tomatoes

Mama mia! It’s time to bring back spaghetti Sunday dinners! Although all vegetables have health benefits, tomatoes have a little something extra called lycopene. Lycopene works in combination with other vitamins and minerals to prevent chronic disease and cancer! One of the great things about tomatoes is that when we cook them, such as in lasagna or spaghetti, the lycopene they contain only becomes more available to the body. Who could ask for more?

7. Apples

Apples have long been associated with good health, and now we have scientific studies to back this up. One study performed on more than 34,000 women over 20 years found that those who ate apples frequently had the lowest risk of stroke and heart attacks. The powerful antioxidants in apples — epicatechin, kaempferol, epigallocatechins, and quercetin — all play a role. These compounds stop cholesterol from building up as plaque in the arteries. Apples are also a good source of vitamin C, which supports a healthy immune system.

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