The Top Reasons The Summer Super Food Is Salsa!

The top reasons the summer super food is salsa! This is the time of year when gardens start producing the bountiful harvest gardener’s wait for fall all summer. If you’re like most Americans you enjoy the many uses of salsa, which is probably why it’s the #1 condiment in the U.S. But weather you grow the ingredients yourself or snag it off a store shelf, it may be one of the best indulgences you could partake in because of the vast amounts of nutrients found in its ingredients!

In 1962, the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink first mentioned the term, “Salsa.” Salsa is a delightful spicy sauce that serves to bring out the flavor of food and is often used with tortilla chips as well. It is easy to fall in love with this appetizing sauce and no one is surprised when the sales of salsa surpassed America’s staple, ketchup, in 1991. Apart from pleasing our taste buds, salsa is actually a very healthy food, when you consider the ingredients used. Let’s consider its nutritional /ingredient breakdown:


1. Tomatoes

These bright red tomatoes are almost synonymous with salsa. Scientific evidence has shown us the advantages of including tomatoes in our diet. Anthocyanins, a potent group of antioxidants are responsible for the bright red pigment and as all antioxidants go, they make powerful scavengers of free radicals, preventing cellular damage. As such, they are great cancer busters.

Another super flavonoid, Lycopene is found in abundance in tomatoes. A recent report from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources revealed that Lycopene can reduce risks of prostrate cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Another researcher from Ben-Gurion University even goes so far as to suggest that Lycopene may have a protective effect against UV skin damage. He contends that Lycopene in the diet may provide internal protection from sunburn as opposed to sunscreen that can only offer external protection.

What else does this red jewel of nature offer? Plenty of nutrients—high levels of Vitamin C, significant amounts of Vitamin A, B vitamins including niacin, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, chromium, folate and fiber.

2. Chilies

Chilies vary in heat from very mild to extremely outrageously hot! This hint of spice is often what gives salsa a kick and an edge, very much like the Salsa dance.

Chiles are a well-known thermogenic spice, it naturally raises metabolic rate, which is very good news for dieters and weight watchers. Its active ingredient, capsaicin, generates heat and also increases heart rate when consumed—both of which help to burn calories. Capsaicin has been shown to suppress appetite. Some of the other great health benefits of chilies are:

Natural Pain Relief / Inflammation

Topical capsaicin is now a recognized treatment option for osteoarthritis pain. It can also help fight inflammation

Cardiovascular Benefits

Red chili peppers, such as cayenne, have been shown to reduce blood cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and platelet aggregation, while increasing the body’s ability to dissolve fibrin, a substance integral to the formation of blood clots. Cultures where hot pepper is used liberally have a much lower rate of heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism.

Boost Immunity

Chili peppers’ bright red color signals its high content of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A. Just two teaspoons of red chili peppers provide about 6% of the daily value for vitamin C coupled with more than 10% of the daily value for vitamin A. Often called the anti-infection vitamin, vitamin A is essential for healthy mucous membranes, which line the nasal passages, lungs, intestinal tract and urinary tract and serve as the body’s first line of defense against invading pathogens.

Spicing your meals with chili peppers may also protect the fats in your blood from damage by free radicals, a first step in the development of atherosclerosis.

Prevent Stomach Ulcers

Chili peppers have a bad–and mistaken–reputation for contributing to stomach ulcers. Not only do they not cause ulcers, they can help prevent them by killing bacteria you may have ingested, while stimulating the cells lining the stomach to secrete protective buffering juices.
Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Making chili pepper a frequently enjoyed spice in your eating could help reduce your risk of hyperinsulinemia (high blood levels of insulin)—a disorder associated with type 2 diabetes. Besides capsaicin, chilies contain antioxidants, including vitamin C and carotenoids, which might also help improve insulin regulation.

Chili’s beneficial effects on insulin needs get even better as body mass index (BMI, a measure of obesity) increases. In overweight people, not only do chili-containing meals significantly lower the amount of insulin required to lower blood sugar levels after a meal, but chili-containing meals also result in a lower ratio of C-peptide/ insulin, an indication that the rate at which the liver is clearing insulin has increased.

If weight control is not your main concern, consider other good qualities of chilies: They are good sources of Vitamins A, C and E, rich in folic acid and potassium, low in sodium and naturally fat free.

3. Onion

Raw onions are crisp and pungent in a wonderful sort of way. Another indispensable ingredient of salsa, the health benefits of onion has been documented since the days of pyramid building when workers were given onions to boost their immunity. The health benefits are so abundant that The World Health Organization (WHO) supports the use of onions for the treatment of poor appetite, the prevention of atherosclerosis, the treatments of coughs, colds, asthma and bronchitis. Now, that‘s a handful!

However, that’s not all. One of its potent antioxidants, Quercetin (also found in red wine, apples, grapefruit, green vegetables and beans) is also a fat-buster. A remarkable work published by the University of Georgia revealed that Quercetin inhibits fat accumulation in maturing fat cells in culture, while also suppressing new fat cells maturation and triggering the death of existing fat cells at the same time.

4. Olive oil

Though high in fat content, it’s mainly the good kind—monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which is effective in lowering bad cholesterol, while raising good cholesterol. Olive oil is also believed to facilitate the uptake of nutrients, so a touch of olive oil can help your body absorbed all the health benefits of the various ingredients discussed above.

5. Garlic

Besides the fact that it can give you bad breath, garlic can boosts health in many ways. Various researches reveal that it can prevent common ailments like cold, fight cancer, prevent hypertension and even heal impotence.

Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic, albeit broad-spectrum rather than targeted. The bacteria in the body do not appear to evolve resistance to the garlic as they do to many modern pharmaceutical antibiotics. This means that its positive health benefits can continue over time rather than helping to breed antibiotic resistant “superbugs”.

Studies have also shown that garlic – especially aged garlic – can have a powerful antioxidant effect. Antioxidants can help to protect the body against damaging free radicals.

6. Vinegar

Aside from its flavorful versatility, recent medical studies have made at least a few indications that vinegar has some impressive health benefits for specific groups of people. Why they might exist isn’t yet very clear – some suspect that certain phytochemicals, or molecules that are found in certain plants, are the root cause. But either way, the following health benefits of vinegar are gaining ideological ground among those who adhere to natural medicine, as well as some in the medical community.

Diabetes – In the study, patients were directed to consume two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar diluted with water right before bed. When they woke up, their blood sugar levels were, on average, between four and six percent lower than control subjects who did not consume the vinegar

Weight loss – From a historical standpoint, vinegar has been widely used by many cultures as a weight loss aid. Though colloquial information like this is far from reliable, scientific evidence seems to support it. In a study performed in 2005, it was found that those who consumed vinegar before meals felt fuller after fewer calories than those who didn’t. Many observational studies as well have linked vinegar with healthier overall weight

Bone Health – One potentially significant health benefit of vinegar has to do with bone health. Those at risk for bone loss and Osteoporosis, especially middle-aged and older women, may stand to gain some very real health effects from vinegar consumption. By consuming vinegar before calcium, one may be able to increase the ratio of absorbed and used calcium to calcium taken in.

Whether it’s being used to control blood sugar, lose a few pounds, or increase calcium absorption, vinegar has been demonstrated as an effective tool for a widely varied number of health goals.

7. Peppers

Like the primary hues of a flag in Central or South America where they originated, sweet bell peppers fly their colors proudly. Whether red, orange, yellow or green, the brilliant tints of these gleaming fruits are largely responsible for their nutritional appeal.

The sunniest tones yield the highest concentration of antioxidant carotenoids. One small red, yellow or orange pepper provides three times the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C—way ahead of citrus. Red peppers stand out as one of the few foods that contain lycopene, a carotenoid which lowers the risk of various cancers, including prostate and cervical cancer. These crimson packages are also packed with beta-carotene, converted to vitamin A in the body and essential for night vision. Nature’s best source of zeaxanthin, a compound known to protect against cataracts and macular degeneration, can be found in orange peppers.

Regardless of their exterior, all bell peppers share a healthy dose of fiber, a hallmark of their characteristic crunch, which helps lower cholesterol and ward off colon cancer. They also offer a wealth of vitamin b6 and folic acid, thought to protect blood vessels from damage by reducing levels of homo-cysteine in the body. Plentiful A and C vitamins boost immunity and guard against a range of ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and risks associated with smoking such as emphysema.


Whoever invented Salsa is a genius and we’ve much to be thankful for—all the incredible health boosters in one appetizing side dish. Of course, salsa doesn’t have to be the same old boring basic salsa, try topical fruits salsa or seasonal fruit salsa. Playing with different fruits can give your salsa an interesting twist.

Here at The Universal Key feel it makes complete sense that when you choose to eat the best nutrient rich fruits and vegetables, that the same principals apply to choosing the best quality food supplements. The best whole food supplements should offer all the nutrients contained in the fruits and vegetables in the right proportions and balance that nature intended. Go to to the link below to find their Expert recommendations.