Food and Nutrition

Foods Men Hate that They Really Should Eat

menshealth.com

Healthy food comes in all shapes and sizes. Some of it - strawberries, lean steak, tomatoes - is delicious, bursting with flavour and packed with nutrients.

And some of it, well, isn't. It's unfortunately true that some of the healthiest foods a man can eat are also the things he finds least palatable. Yet the health benefits of these foods means we should all be fighting past the gag reflex and eating them anyway. 


LIVER

 

Liver is pretty offal (geddit?). While most of us are OK eating the tasty flesh of a variety of animals, many men would rather starve than tuck into an internal organ. That's a shame, because offal can be really good for you. Heart and kidney have their benefits, but liver really packs a nutritious punch. It's nature's most concentrated source of vitamin A, and also contains plenty of iron and B vitamins. If you work out, it's also a good source of protein for muscle building and repair. 

 

PORRIDGE

 

Real men used to eat nothing but porridge for breakfast (almost), but this lily-livered generation has been seduced by the sugar-laden charms of croissants, fancy cereals and Danish pastries. The traditional way of making porridge is with water and salt, which makes it pretty foul. Go down the sugar and milk route and you'll have a tastier breakfast, but a less healthy one. Still, any porridge is probably healthier than your current breakfast. Porridge oats are packed with minerals, vitamins and a huge amount of protein and dietary fibre, and some people even claim that they lower cholesterol, aid in weight-loss and even improve your sex life. 

 

SARDINES

 

If you've ever resolved to eat more oily fish you've probably still got the tin of sardines gently gathering dust at the back of the cupboard. Sardines are slimy, pongy and very, very fishy. And wouldn't you know it, they're also ridiculously good for you. Heart disease is the blight of men, but these scaly little fish are packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. We should all eat more fish, and the unloved sardine is one of the healthiest of all. 

 

BRUSSELS SPROUTS

 

If you force them down once a year and vow not to touch them again for 12 months you're doing your body a disservice. Yes, brussel sprouts have a bitter aftertaste that can be hard to love. Yes, their aroma is a bit eau de sweaty feet. But sprouts are little green grenades of goodness, packed with vitamins K and C and also a very good source of folate, vitamin A, manganese, dietary fibre, potassium and vitamin B6. As if that's not enough, a study of men in Holland found that those who ate a daily serving of brussel sprouts had a 28% decrease in measured DNA damage. Let your taste buds learn to love sprouts, because the rest of your body definitely does. 

 

JUICES

 

Go to the juice bar in your local gym and you may well be offered a shot of wheatgrass (centre). And if you can keep it down, the pulverised sprouts of wheat seeds are extremely good for you, containing a full hit of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, most people think wheatgrass is disgusting, tasting much as you might expect raw grass to taste. Even those who swear by it tend to mix it with other juices or ginger and honey and even then knock it back as quickly as possible. 

 

BLACK PUDDING

 

Some men wouldn't rate a fried breakfast that didn't include a couple of thick wedges of black pudding. Others wouldn't touch the discs of congealed pig blood with a very long stick. Black pudding tastes fine, but you don't have to be overly squeamish to shy away from eating it. If you do find it in your morning fry-up, don't be too quick to give it away. It's the healthiest meat on your plate, a rich source of protein, iron and zinc (which helps produce healthy semen) and is very low in carbohydrate

 

BEET ROOT  

 

Once the scourge of school dinners, beetroot has recently been hailed as a superfood. If you usually push it to the side of the salad and try to avoid its bright vinegary juice, you're missing out on a big hit of nitrates - nutrients that have been shown to lower blood pressure - as well as a good dose of magnesium, calcium, iron and vitamins A and C. 

 

CABBAGE

 

Many men can't get past the memory of the soggy cold cabbage that was slopped on their plate at school or scout camp. They should try. A 150g portion of shredded, boiled cabbage contains 91% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin K and 50% of vitamin C. Cabbage is also a very good source of dietary fibres, manganese, vitamin B6 and folate. There is some evidence that a diet rich in brassicas - of which cabbage is one - helps protect against certain cancers. 

 

PURPLE TURNIP BULB

 

The knobbly purple turnip bulb is hard to love, and it's fair to say that turnip mash or turnip chips are something of an acquired taste. But if you're looking to lose weight, it's worth knowing that turnips are starchy but contain only about a third of the calories of potatoes. They also contain plenty of vitamin C, fibre, folic acid and manganese.

 

INSECTS

 

Insects are eaten in many parts of the world, and for good reason. There are, at the last count, nearly 1,500 species of edible insect, most of which are packed with high-quality protein (for muscle building), B vitamins, iron and calcium. You're also much less likely to catch a disease from eating insects as you are from eating mammals. As environmental concerns surrounding meat eating grow, could insects become a common sight on our supermarket shelves?