Healthiest Foods for Storage

1. Spinach (rich with nutrients & Anti-Cancer benefits)
2. Steel cut oatmeal (lowers Cholesterol Levels)
3. Chick Peas & Lentils (high in fiber)
4. Strawberries (Rich with Vitamin C and anti-oxidants keep your immune system healthy)
5. Walnuts (decrease LDL cholesterol & total cholesterol; other cardiovascular benefits. Also contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phytonutrients)
6. Free range chicken (great source of protein)
7. Wild Salmon (relatively free of mercury & toxins; contains heart healthy omega-3 fats)
8. Cayenne peppers (fight inflammation, natural pain relievers, cardiovascular benefits, and helps in weight loss) & cinnamon ( Anti-microbial activity helps stop growth of bacteria and fungi; helps slow down digestion and decrease blood sugar spikes in your blood)

The Healthiest foods should contain the essential nutrients needed by the body. Essential nutrients are nutrients that the body cannot manufacture and that it must get from foods. There are essential fats and essential proteins, but there are no essential carbohydrates.
What that means is that the body would suffer without certain proteins and fats.

Because essential nutrients are key, the healthiest foods are the ones that have the highest concentration of vitamins and minerals per calorie (nutrient density). The ANDI score is a measure of nutrient density in foods per 100 calories. The ANDI score is measured on a scale of 1 to 1000, a score of 1000 being the most nutrient dense food. ANDI (developed by Eat Right America) is an acronym for “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index”.

Your body needs vitamins and minerals to stay healthy and not suffer from disease. These vitamins and minerals are called micronutrients. When your body gets a healthy dose of micronutrients, the immune system becomes stronger and that makes it easier to fight off disease.

In order to stay healthy and not get sick, you should keep nutrient dense foods in your food storage supply. Finally, remember to eat nutritionally balanced foods. Just because Kale is a powerhouse of nutrients does not mean you can only eat kale day and night. You must balance your nutrients to stay healthy. Check your daily requirements here: Nutritional Balance

As you may have realized, the highest nutrient foods are fruits and vegetables. So how do you store these foods? You can purchase many fruits and vegetables dehydrated and freeze dried. Many of these nutrient dense foods can also be purchased canned or sealed in mylar bags, a food grade plastic bag.

Foods stored in mylar bags and in tin cans can last several years. Freeze dried foods can last up to 25 years in ideal conditions, meaning cool, dry, and dark. Dehydrated foods can last approximately 15 years in the same conditions.

Your food storage supplies should definitely include freeze dried foods as they are lightweight, retain all their nutrition, and are easy to reconstitute by adding water.

You can start dehydrating foods yourself. I’ve seen dehydrators for as low as $39 in places like Walmart. You could buy a good dehydrator and begin dehydrating foods right away.

Another great purchase are mylar bags. Mylar bags are popular food grade plastic bags. For the maximum storage life, store your foods in Mylar bags used in conjunction with an oxygen absorber.

If you are on a really tight budget simply store your foods in glass jars you already have collected around the house. Don’t be shy about asking your neighbors for their glass jars as well.

Finally, food grade buckets are an inexpensive great way to store large amounts of foods. They have been around for a very long time and when used with oxygen absorbers the food stored lasts a very long time.

Happy shopping and good luck!