This fresh delectable condiment can be added to any dish has a healthy alternative. Although traditionally served with tortilla chips, tacos, fajitas or quesadillas, fresh salsa can be also eaten with any of your favourite meals including, eggs, meat dishes, on a burger, or whatever you choose.
Why Eat Fresh?
The obvious reason to eat fresh for most is taste. You can not beat the flavours and texture of crispy, savoury, juicy fruits and vegetables that come together in a taste explosion in your mouth. Eating fresh gives you extra energy, as well as a multitude of other health benefits. The benefits of eating raw fruits and vegetables are so great the National Cancer Institute, the American Heart Association, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend that we eat at least 5 to 9 servings per day. Yet despite this medical evidence, less than 10% of American adults eat at least 5 servings daily. Those fruits and vegetables that most of us eat are often cooked leaving little nutritional value at all. The result of this ignorance lies in the statistics, Americans contract more cancerous diseases than any other nation in the world.
What Can the Ingredients of This Fresh Salsa Recipe Do For You?
Each ingredient of this fresh salsa recipe has specific health benefits that come together to form an essential part of a balanced diet.
Tomatoes
Tomates are rich in potassium, vitamins C and A, and include lycopene, which is an antioxidant that has cancer-fighting properties.
Red Onions
Red onions contain allyl propyl disulphides, flavonoids, and quercetin. These elements help reduce heart disease as well as certain types of cancer. They help clean up oxidative damage that can lead to cancer. They have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties that may prevent the growth of certain types of tumors. They are also a natural antihistamine.
Cilantro
Cilantro is a detoxer that removes heavy metals like mercury, aluminum and lead from the body and brain. Cilantro can help prevent depression, Alzheimer’s disease, protects against salmonella bacteria, helps digestion, lowers blood sugar and bad cholesterol, and is an anti-inflammatory.
Jalapenos
Capsaicin is the active ingredient in Jalapenos. Capsaicin relieves congestion, lowers high blood pressure, fights inflammation, fights inflammatory bowel disease, treats arthritis, treats psoriasis, treats diabetic neuropathy and also drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves!
Limes
Limes contain flavonoid compounds that have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Limes are an excellent source of vitamin C, one of the most important antioxidants in nature. Vitamin C is also vital for a strong immune system. Limes also contain the compound called limonoids, limonoids have shown to help fight cancers of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach, and colon.
Fresh Mexican Salsa Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 red tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- ½ a cup of cilantro
- 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers
- The juice of 2 limes
- A sprinkle of sea salt (optional)
Preparation:
Finely chop tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeno peppers. Mix these ingredients in a bowl then add the juice of 2 limes and sea salt. Mix again and let sit or chill for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.
You will never buy salsa from a jar again!
Teena Clipston - Teena Clipston is publisher and editor-in-chief of TheGreenGazette. www.thegreengazette.ca
Join the Conversation