Not anymore, thanks to research that's shifting the spotlight to a new generation of health-boosting foods—many of which do double or triple duty to help prevent illness. Here are six on the brink of superstar status.
1. Pomegranate
If you're going to have a martini, at least make it a pomegranate one. This fall fruit has higher antioxidant activity than red wine and green tea, which may be why a number of studies show it may prevent skin cancer and kill breast and prostate cancer cells. It also helps to:
Fight Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at Loma Linda University found that mice who drank pomegranate juice experienced 50 percent less brain degeneration than animals that consumed only sugar water. The pomegranate drinkers also did better in mazes and tests as they aged.
Guard your arteries
A group of diabetics who drank about 2 ounces of pomegranate juice a day for three months kept their bodies from absorbing bad cholesterol into their immune system cells (a major contributing factor to hardened arteries), discovered Israeli researchers.
By Denise Foley, Prevention magazine
