Ten wildly good super foods. I’ve been perusing web sites known for solid nutrition advice, looking for their Top 10 most nutritious foods. Although recommendations vary (no surprise), salmon is always included. It might be number one, it might be number five, but it is always on the short list. Salty cold water produces very healthy fish, primarily because these fish need to insulate themselves from the frigid waters they live in. Therefore to create a thick ‘wet suit’ they create a layer of healthy fat and stored nutrients. This of course turns out to be a most astoundingly and fantastically healthy food for us. Imagine if you had to pack your body full of the required nutrients to swim up a 500 mile long river without stopping for lunch. This is what salmon do, and that is why they are so nutritious. Two to three servings a week are recommended by most scientific studies.

Our Top Ten list is in no particular order, but for our purposes of course, I mentioned the venerable salmon first! Apples, crisp and sweet, with their high amounts of cholesterol-absorbing fiber rank high. Blueberries, whose dark delicious orbs are full of antioxidants and phyto-nutrients, can help ward off cancer and heart disease. Leafy greens are light as a feather, yet pack a heavy-weight nutrition punch full of beta-carotenes and heart healthy nutrients. Whether spinach, kale, arugula or swiss chard — all are great choices to nosh on. Sweet potatoes, beautifully bright orange and packed with vitamin A and fiber, are a great filling choice. Beans contain excellent lean protein and are fiber rich.

They are also a good source of minerals like iron and potassium. Broccoli is another green winner. Lots of vitamin C and A can be found here, as well as K and folic acid. Yogurt is a great source of gut bugs – good bacteria that live in your gut and help you digest your food. Yogurt also has a bounty of calcium to support bone and muscle health. We are now at eight on our list, but how can I decide what makes it and which are the also-rans? Not gonna do it. Instead, I would like to move to the honorable mentions yet no-less-important contestants: tea, avocado, almonds, eggs, oranges, tomatoes, whole grains, squash, watermelon, kiwi and mangoes. And to make life happy we must include — dark chocolate.

Now is the season when we have excellent access to the Number One best wild salmon on the planet. So come in to Salty’s and store some up. No 500-mile swim required.