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I hear of a new health benefit of a different food virtually every day as associate nutrition editor ofEatingWellMagazine: Broccoli could fight cancer! Coffee may help you live longer! But what I hear about less often is how various foods interact-and, therefore, act-when you eat them together. Some foods, like iron-rich beans and calcium-packed cheese, fight for absorption in your body of their respective key nutrients when you eat them at the same time. But other foods have a synergistic effect-helping their star nutrients work even better in your body. Here are 5 such power pairs, many of which Jessica Girdwain reported about in the May/June issue ofEatingWellMagazine:
Broccoli & MustardRaw broccoli is a good source of the powerful cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane. But cooking destroys the enzyme (myrosinase) in broccoli that makes sulforaphane available to your body. The fix? Combine broccoli with mustard (yes, the condiment) or another raw cruciferous veggie, such as wasabi or arugula-the extra dose of myrosinase will help you absorb more sulforaphane, according to a 2011 study published in theBritish Journal of Nutrition.
Coffee & SugarIf you take your coffee with sugar, good news-it may make you more productive on the job, suggests a small 2010 study published in the journalHuman Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. When study participants drank the two together, researchers found that areas of the brain associated with attention worked more efficiently than when sipped solo. If you don’t like coffee, try green or black tea with a drizzle of honey: Just make sure you keep in mind the American Heart Association’s recommended limit on added sugars: 6 teaspoons a day for women, 9 for men. Check out theseBest & Worst Iced Coffee Drinks.
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Beans & GreensBeans are another plant-based source of iron. Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, which is particularly important when you’re getting iron from plant sources (iron from animal sources is more readily taken into your body). So pairing beans with a vitamin C-rich food, such as greens, is a great way to up your iron absorption.
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