MedicineNet.com

Explanation:

Water is a keeping-weight-off superfood because it's a great alternative to other, calorie-containing beverages.

When you drink beverages that have high calories (say, fancy coffee drinks or sodas), you are not likely to compensate by eating less food. Research suggests that people who drink liquid carbohydrates (such as soda) are more likely to consume more calories than their bodies need, compared with people who ate the same amount of solid carbohydrate.

Explanation:

One recent study looked at a group of obese adults who ate three, 6-ounce servings of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a diet reduced by 500 calories from their normal intake. The study found that this group lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than another group of participants who ate the reduced-calorie diet without emphasizing calcium-rich foods. Even more impressive: the yogurt eaters also lost 81% more stomach fat.

Explanation:

The acai berry is a relative of the blueberry, cranberry, and other dark purple fruits.

A reddish-purplish fruit, acai (pronounced ah-sah-EE) berries are highly touted by marketers who say it's one of the elite superfoods with anti-aging and weight-loss properties. The berries come from the acai palm tree (Euterpe oleracea), which is native to Central America and South America.

Research on the acai berry has focused on its possible antioxidant activity. Theoretically, that activity may help prevent diseases caused by oxidative stress such as heart disease and cancer.

Explanation:

Lycopene is a beneficial nutrient and the red pigment that gives tomatoes, watermelon, red grapefruit, and navel oranges their color.

Headlines in recent news have touted lycopene's protective effects against prostate cancer, though more quiet research has shown it has tremendous health benefits for women as well, including proof that lycopene may protect against breast cancer.

Explanation:

Antioxidants are vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that protect and repair cells from damage caused by free radicals, which are often byproducts of oxygen use by the body.

Many experts believe the damage from free radicals plays a part in a number of chronic diseases, including hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), cancer, and arthritis.

Free radicals can also interfere with your immune system, so fighting off damage with antioxidants helps keep your immune system strong, making you better able to ward off colds, flu, and other infections.

Explanation:

Black and green teas both have different types of antioxidants than fruits and vegetables. More than a decade's worth of research about green tea's health benefits -- particularly its potential to fight cancer and heart disease -- has been more than intriguing, as have limited studies about green tea's role in lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and stroke, and staving off dementia. The detoxifying effect of the antioxidants found in green and black teas protects cells from free radicals, which can cause damage leading to blood clot formation, atherosclerosis, and cancer.

Explanation:

Vitamin D is important for bones because it assists the body in calcium absorption.

Most people know that calcium is needed for strong bones, but it's also needed to help blood vessels and muscles contract and expand; to send messages through the nervous system, and to secrete hormones and enzymes.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body and makes up 1%-2% of adult human body weight. Over 99% of it is stored in bones and teeth, with the rest stored in blood, muscle, and other tissues.