Top 10 Foods to Eat Daily for Optimal Health

Dark leafy greens like spinach, kale and collards bring fiber, iron, vitamins A, C and K, folate and calcium for almost no calories. One cup of raw spinach has 7 calories and 145 micrograms of vitamin K, more than a full day's Daily Value, according to USDA FoodData Central.

In a study of 960 older adults in Neurology, followed for an average of 4.7 years, people who ate the most leafy greens (a median of about 1.3 servings a day) had slower cognitive decline than those who ate the least. The difference equaled being about 11 years younger. It's an observational study, so it shows a link, not proof that greens caused it.

How to eat them: add a cup a day to salads, wraps or smoothies, or sauté them as a side.

Half a cup of blueberries has 42 calories and 1.8 grams of fiber, plus anthocyanins, the pigments that give them their color. Anthocyanins are antioxidants, and researchers are studying them for heart and brain health. The human results so far are promising but small, so think of blueberries as one good part of a fruit habit, not a treatment.

How to eat them: half a cup on oatmeal or yogurt, blended into a smoothie, or straight from the bag as a snack. Frozen berries work just as well and cost less.

Salmon is one of the richest food sources of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically DHA and EPA. A 3-ounce cooked fillet of farmed Atlantic salmon has about 175 calories, 19 grams of protein and 1.8 grams of EPA and DHA (USDA).

The American Heart Association recommends two servings of fish a week, especially fatty fish like salmon, for heart health. A serving is 3 ounces cooked, about three-quarters of a cup flaked. Salmon gives you the omega-3s and high-quality protein in one food, which a fish oil capsule can't.

How to eat it: two 3-ounce servings a week, baked, grilled or flaked into a salad.

Flaxseed is a plant source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of omega-3, plus lignans and fiber. A tablespoon of ground flax has 37 calories and 1.9 grams of fiber. Eat it ground, not whole: whole seeds can pass through your digestive system intact, so you miss most of what's inside.

Its fiber supports regularity, and some studies have found it can modestly lower LDL cholesterol. Your body converts only a small share of ALA into the EPA and DHA found in fish, so flax adds to salmon rather than replacing it.

How to eat it: start with 1 to 2 tablespoons a day in smoothies or oatmeal, or sprinkled on avocado toast.

Yogurt is the gut health pick on this list. Look for "live and active cultures" on the label: those are the probiotic bacteria that join your gut microbiome, the trillions of microbes involved in digestion and immunity. One cup of plain low-fat yogurt has 154 calories, about 13 grams of protein and 448 milligrams of calcium, about a third of the Daily Value, plus B vitamins and potassium.

Choose plain yogurt and add your own fruit to skip the added sugar. For more gut-friendly foods, see our guide to 20 prebiotic foods for gut health.

Carrots are full of beta-carotene and other carotenoids, which your body turns into vitamin A for eye health and immune function. One medium raw carrot has about 25 calories and 509 micrograms of vitamin A, 57% of the Daily Value, according to USDA data.

You may have read that one carrot covers over 200% of your vitamin A needs. That figure came from the old Daily Value, measured in different units. On today's labels, one carrot covers a bit more than half a day.

How to eat them: raw with hummus, roasted as a side, or shredded into salads and slaws. A little fat in the meal helps you absorb the carotenoids.

Broccoli brings vitamins C and K, fiber and folate. One cup of cooked broccoli has 55 calories, 5.2 grams of fiber and 101 milligrams of vitamin C, more than the 83 milligrams in a navel orange. It also contains sulforaphane, a compound researchers are studying for its possible anti-cancer effects.

How to eat it: steam it lightly to hold on to vitamin C, roast it for crispy edges, or add it raw to salads. It pairs with almost any protein.

Sweet potatoes bring vitamins A, C and B6, plus potassium, fiber and manganese. One medium baked sweet potato (114 grams) has 103 calories, 3.8 grams of fiber and 1,096 micrograms of vitamin A, 122% of the Daily Value.

That fiber makes them a filling carb for building balanced meals. How you cook them changes how fast they raise blood sugar, so pair them with protein and vegetables rather than eating them alone. For the vitamins you can't easily get from food, our guide to supplements for weight loss sorts what has support from what doesn't.

How to eat them: bake them whole, cube and roast them, or mash them as a side.

Garlic gives you a lot of flavor for about 4 calories a clove. Crushing or chopping it forms allicin, a compound with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Garlic also contains fructans, a type of fiber that feeds helpful gut bacteria.

Studies link garlic to lower blood pressure and better cholesterol numbers, but most of those trials used garlic supplements such as aged garlic extract at set doses, not the cloves in your dinner. Cooking with garlic is a good habit. Just don't count on a clove to do what a blood pressure plan does.

How to eat it: 2 to 3 fresh cloves a day as a base for soups, stir-fries, roasted vegetables and marinades.

From oatmeal to brown rice, quinoa to barley, whole grains keep the bran and germ that refined grains lose, so they bring more fiber, B vitamins and minerals. Half a cup of dry oats has 152 calories, 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein (USDA).

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health links whole grains to a lower risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes and recommends making at least half your grains whole. Their fiber also slows digestion, so you get steadier energy than from refined grains.

How to eat them: swap white rice for brown, choose whole grain bread, and start your day with oats.