The top foods included here do have incredible health benefits. Listed below are just some of the reasons to include these foods in your diet:

• Prevent or reduce inflammation

• Help regulate metabolism and burn body fat

• Lower total cholesterol

• Lower blood pressure

• Help protect against heart disease

• Help protect against cancer

• Help protect organs from toxins

• Promote digestive health

Benefits:

• Provides a high concentration of antioxidants that help combat premature aging, with 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and 10 to 30 times the anthocyanins of red wine

• A synergy of monounsaturated (healthy) fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols to help promote cardiovascular and digestive health

• Provides essential amino acid complex in conjunction with valuable trace minerals, vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration

Benefits:

• Lowers total cholesterol (but raises HDL—"good"—cholesterol)

• Lessens the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

• Lowers blood pressure

• Reduces the risk of blood clots (cause of the majority of strokes and heart attacks)

• Destroys infection-causing viruses and bacteria

• Reduces the risk of certain cancers, in particular, stomach cancers

• Produces more natural killer cells in the blood to fight tumors and infections

• Helps fight against neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's

• Enhances detoxification by reducing toxins

• Inhibit the growth of cancerous cells

• Increase in HDL cholesterol (especially when eaten raw)

• Reduce total cholesterol levels

• Increase blood-clot dissolving activity

• Help prevent colds

• Stimulate the immune system

• Reduce the risks of diabetes

• Have antibacterial and antifungal properties

• Reduce the risk of certain cancers

• Help relieve stomach upset and other gastrointestinal disorders

Benefits:

• Not only is barley a low-glycemic grain, it is high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber helps the body metabolize fats, cholesterol and carbohydrates, and lowers blood cholesterol levels. Insoluble fiber—commonly called "roughage"—promotes a healthy digestive tract and reduces the risk of cancers affecting it (e.g., colon cancer).

• The fiber found in barley provides food for the beneficial bacteria in the large intestine. This is important as the "good" bacteria can crowd out the disease-causing bacteria in the intestinal tract, resulting in greater health and disease resistance

• Lowers blood cholesterol levels

• Protects against cancer because its high fiber content helps speed food through the digestive tract, and because its a good source of selenium, shown - to significantly reduce the risk of colon cancer

• It's a good source of niacin, the B vitamin that is cardio-protective

• Slows starch digestion, which may help keep blood sugar levels stable

• Provides high concentrations of tocotrienols, the "super" form of Vitamin E

• Provides lignans, phytochemicals that function as antioxidants Women who consume lignans (also present in high levels in flaxseed) are less likely to develop breast cancer