HEALTHY EGGS: EASY WAYS TO ADD NUTRITION

Eggs are wonderfully healthy, but eating them with these other good-for-you foods unlocks even more benefits for your bones, brain, energy levels, and more.

Perfect Pair: Eggs + Spinach

Why it’s healthy: Boost bone health
One cup of cooked spinach contains over 1,000 percent of your daily recommended intake of vitamin K, which is important for bone health. Vitamin K is fat soluble, which means your body absorbs it best with other foods that contain a little fat, like that in eggs. Spinach is also an excellent source of other bone-supporting nutrients like calcium and magnesium.

Enjoy them together: Whip up this Mushroom and Spinach Frittata recipe from the NYTimes.com as a hearty breakfast-for-dinner option, or enjoy this Egg Florentine recipe from WomensHealthMag.com.

Perfect Pair: Eggs + Cantaloupe

Why it’s healthy: Boost energy levels
Group these foods together at breakfast and you could keep your energy levels high until lunch. According to MensHealth.com, protein from the egg slows the absorption of carbohydrate in the cantaloupe, says nutritionist Stacy Kennedy of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. "This synergy helps by minimizing insulin and blood-sugar spikes, which are followed by a crash, zapping energy,” says Kennedy. “High insulin levels are connected with inflammation, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. By slowing the absorption of glucose, your body can better read the cues that you are full. This helps prevent everything from overeating to indigestion."

Enjoy them together: Pair a fried egg with sliced cantaloupe as part of your morning meal, or have a hard-boiled egg and cantaloupe balls for an afternoon snack.

Perfect Pair: Egg + Banana

Why it’s healthy: Help your body recover post workout
After a tough sweat session, it’s important to replace carbohydrates, potassium, and other nutrients you lose during exercise. You may also need protein to help muscles recover. A banana and egg combo makes this simple: the banana supplies plenty of carbs and potassium and the egg’s protein can help repair muscles while also stunting a blood sugar spike from the carbs.

Enjoy them together: Bag a hard-boiled egg and a banana for after your workout. Another tasty option: Make a smoothie with eggs, banana, blueberries, and almond milk.

Perfect Pair: Eggs + Cheese

Why it’s healthy: Reduce PMS
You’ve probably always loved this combo, but the duo packs a powerful nutrition punch. The vitamin D in egg yolks helps your body absorb the cheese's bone- and heart-protecting calcium, according to RodaleNews.com. Calcium and vitamin D together may make women feel better during that time of the month, research shows. Women with the highest intakes of both nutrients had significantly fewer PMS symptoms than those who ate less.

Enjoy them together: Add cheese to your scrambled eggs, as in Sunny's Perfect Scrambled Cheesy Eggs on FoodNetwork.com, or top a sunny-side up egg with a slice of cheese on whole grain roll for a breakfast sandwich.

SOME FOODS HELP TO LOWER HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Consuming less sodium may be important to help slash blood pressure levels, but eating more of these foods is good for your heart and arteries too.

Baked Potato

These tasty spuds are rich in magnesium and potassium, two nutrients that are an important part of the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or high blood pressure). A potassium-rich diet helps the body become more efficient at flushing out excess sodium, which can raise blood pressure; and magnesium helps promote healthy blood flow, according to nutritionist Joy Bauer.  

Skim Milk

A cold glass of milk offers a solid serving of both calcium and vitamin D, nutrients that work as a team to help lower blood pressure by 3 to 10 percent, according to Bauer’s website. Those numbers may not sound impressive, but they could translate to a 15 percent reduction in heart disease risk, she added. Other research suggests that people with low levels of calcium are at greater risk of high blood pressure. 

Eggs

If you think eggs are not heart healthy, you should know that past studies have shown that yolks don’t raise heart disease risk; now recent research has found that egg whites can help dial down blood pressure, according to a study presented earlier this year at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. As MensHealth.com reported, when rats with high blood pressure were fed a protein found in egg whites, they experienced a drop in blood pressure that was comparable to a low dose of Captopril, a blood-pressure-lowering medication. Although more research is needed, eggs are a solid source of protein, vitamin D, and other healthy nutrients. 

Broccoli

This cruciferous veggie is a good source of the blood pressure-regulating minerals magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Previous research in animals has found that a diet high in broccoli sprouts may help reduce blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Broccoli sprouts are high in compounds that may help reduce damage to arteries, which may play a role in high blood pressure. 

Beet juice

People with high blood pressure who drank about eight ounces of beetroot juice experienced a decrease in blood pressure of about 10 mm Hg, according to a study published in April 2013 in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension. The magic ingredient? Nitrate, which turns into nitric oxide, a gas that widens blood vessels and aids blood flow. A glass a day could help keep blood pressure at a lower, healthier level.

Sesame and rice-bran oils

People who cooked with a blend of the two oils (available at health food stores) saw a drop in blood pressure almost comparable with the decrease that results from taking medication, according to research from the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions. Researchers believe the effect is due to the oils’ fatty acids and antioxidants such as sesamin, sesamol, sesamolin, and oryzanol.

Bananas

Famously rich in blood pressure-lowering potassium, one banana contains about 420 milligrams, or 11 percent of the 4,700 milligrams the American Heart Association recommends people consume daily. Surprisingly, however, many veggies are actually higher in potassium than these popular fruits. A cup of Swiss chard boasts 960 milligrams, a cup of cooked white beans has nearly 1,200 milligrams, and a whole avocado has 975 milligrams.

Dark chocolate

A tasty way to be heart healthy! Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants called flavanols, which make blood vessels more elastic, according to Prevention.com. Stick to an ounce or less a day and make sure it contains at least 70 percent cocoa.