The 7 superfoods

1. Spinach

MAIN TARGET AGE-RELATED VISION LOSS

WHAT'S KNOWN By the time you turn 65, chances are you'll have lost some vision to cataracts. Unless, like Popeye, you're a spinach fan. Men who eat spinach more than twice a week are nearly 40 percent less likely to have cataracts--and women, 25 percent less--than those who eat it less than once a month, according to a 1999 Harvard survey of more than 100,000 people.

POWER SOURCE Lutein. This pigment filters out the sun's blue light and reduces ultraviolet radiation; both harm the eyes.

THE LATEST Though there's no cure for macular degeneration--a leading cause of blindness after age 60--eating spinach may help. To see if upping lutein, the sight-saver in spinach, could improve vision, Illinois doctors added lutein to the daily diets of seniors with macular degeneration. A year later, not only had their sight loss stopped, but it had actually improved, reported a major study in Optometry, April 2004.

SUGGESTED DALLY DOSE Six milligrams of lutein--the amount in half a cup of cooked spinach. Just that much may cut the risk for macular degeneration by nearly half.

CALORIES 7 per cup raw, 41 per cup cooked

TIPS Cooking spinach releases its full store of lutein. Eating it with a little olive oil or another healthful fat helps the body absorb lutein.

OTHER BENEFITS * Helps prevent birth defects (due to its high folate content) * May improve heart health

2. Bluberries

MAIN TARGET MEMORY

WHAT'S KNOWN Blueberries may stem and even reverse age-related memory loss. The big clue came in a 1999 Tufts University study. After two months on blueberries, older rats not truly navigated mazes faster, they also had better balance and were more coordinated--skills regulated by the brain. Research is now under way at Tufts to determine whether blueberries increase human brainpower.

POWER SOURCE Anthocyanins. These potent antioxidants increase communication between aging brain cells, and find off free radicals. Blueberries have the highest antioxidant power of the 20 most common fruits and berries, according to the USDA.

THE LATEST A compound in blueberries may also reduce cholesterol, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in August 2004. The compound, called pterostilbene, works a lot like the anticholesterol drug ciprofibrate--but without its side effects. Pterostilbene also protects the heart much like resveratrol, the antioxidant in grapes and red wines.

SUGGESTED DAILY DOSE On the strength of his memory studies, Tufts' lead researcher James Joseph, PhD, downs one cup of blueberries daily.

CALORIES 83 per cup

TIPS Go wild. The USDA says blueberries from the great outdoors have twice the antioxidant power of their cultivated cousins.

OTHER BENEFITS Help prevent urinary tract infections

3. Tea

MAIN TARGET CANCERS and HEART DISEASE

WHAT'S KNOWN Every cup is a toast to good health. Tea is particularly effective against cancer--drinking 1 1/2 or more cups daily is linked to decreases in rectal, colon and urinary tract cancers, found a 2003 study in the Annals of Epidemiology.

POWER SOURCE Flavonoids. Tea is loaded with these antioxidants. One in particular--epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)--protects normal cells from cancer, keeps cancerous cells from multiplying and constricts blood vessels that feed tumors. In people with heart disease, EGCG lowers LDL and makes clots less likely to form.

THE LATEST Drinking three cups of black tea daily slashed heart attack rates by half in a 2002 Dutch study. Japanese researchers also found a 42 percent drop in heart attacks among cup-a-day green tea drinkers. Even after a heart attack, people who sip two-plus cups of black tea a day are less likely to die within four years than non-tea drinkers are.

SUGGESTED DALLY DOSE As little as one cup, but more is likely better--for overall benefits, think four cups.

CALORIES 2 per cup

TIPS Tea's many health benefits are more often tied to green tea--but largely because it has been studied more. Black tea is probably just as healthful, says Jeffrey Blumberg, a tea expert at Tufts University.

OTHER BENEFITS * May reduce incidence of skin cancer * Improves oral health

4. Broccoli

MAIN TARGET CANCERS

WHAT'S KNOWN No single veg fights cancer better than broccoli. Eating it more than three times a week could cut the rate of colorectal cancer in half, suggests 1998 research from the University of California, Los Angeles.

POWER SOURCE Sulforaphane. Broccoli is loaded with this phytochemical, which helps zap certain carcinogens. And it's also high in indoles, plant chemicals thought to inhibit breast cancer cells.

THE LATEST Eaten regularly, the stalky green helps shrink the risk of many cancers, especially bladder. A nearly 50 percent drop in bladder cancer is linked to eating broccoli more than twice a week, versus less than once, reports a 1999 Harvard study.

SUGGESTED DALLY DOSE One cup

CALORIES 30 per cup, 78 cooked

TIPS Steaming broccoli preserves some 90 percent of its phytochemicals versus 19 percent for boiling and 3 percent for microwaving, found 2003 research in Spain.