The worst will naturally do just the opposite. Let's find out what you should and should not eat to promote health and wellness.

Not all foods were made alike. Some foods are better than others. The foods that qualify as the best contain plenty of good ingredients. These include plenty of fiber, macro and micro nutrients. Are you curious to see what made our list?

1. Broccoli – This tasty vegetable has always been a favorite food. Why? It has plenty of vitamin C, which we all know is good for us. It also contains folic acid. You can eat it raw; just sprinkle a bit of lemon juice on it for a bit of tangy flavor.
2. Goji Berries – These heavenly berries contain plenty of antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect the body from various diseases, including cancer. It seems now more so than ever people are succumbing to diseases like chronic ailments and cancer, probably because they do not get enough antioxidants in their diet (although there are obviously many other reasons). Goji berries also contain beta carotene, iron, trace minerals, protein and amino acids. Unbelievable!
3. Maca – This plant should be one consumed by all raw food junkies. It contains fatty acids, vitamins, protein and other macro and micro nutrients. It helps to increase energy and many feel it helps boost one's libido, no who can't benefit from that! It may also boost fertility in women and men. Much like a radish, you can also buy this in powder form from many health food stores. The Maca plant also helps boost immunity to help improve one's overall function. For individuals with high blood pressure, they may find their blood pressure stabilizes under the influence of the Maca plant.
4. Hemp Seed – For some time now raw foodists have known of the benefits of hemp seed. You can buy it in many forms including as oil. It contains an ideal amount of Omega 3 and 6, which is important for our overall health and wellness. It contains many trace elements and like many super foods help fight cancer. This is one food that doesn't require germination.
5. Wheatgrass – Wheatgrass contains vitamins, minerals, and is a complete protein, Not many foods can boast of that! It is a natural detoxifier as well, helping the body eliminate unwanted substances naturally. Wheatgrass may also assist your body in digesting food as it contains almost 30 plant enzymes. Chlorophyll in wheatgrass is known to help strengthen the blood, so this food is optimal for raw food enthusiasts especially for those that may be prone to other disorders including anemia. Among its known “powers” including removing body odor or halitosis, although this is not a common problem among people that eat a raw food diet. Some people find that wheat grass helps them feel fuller so they don't crave food. This may be a good supplement for people starting out on a raw food diet.

Now that you know what to eat, let's talk about what you should not eat. There are so many things that are bad and harmful these days, it is almost impossible to list them all. The list of the 5 worst foods is indeed difficult to narrow because there are so many in this fast-food, microwave dinner, candy, sugar coated supermarket world!

We have done our best so that you know what foods are most inappropriate for you. Here is that list…

1. Fried chicken from a fast food joint – This type of food is loaded with trans fat and typically does not contain any real nutritional value. Most servings contain well over 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Since you are only supposed to have about 2,000 milligrams (thereabouts) of sodium a day, you can see this is totally inappropriate, and that is a small serving.
2. Fast food ice cream – it may sound delicious, but many “chain” ice cream parlors offer ice cream that is loaded with fat and calories, and a lot of trans fat at that. Think of your favorite types of ice cream… hmmm. Ben & Jerry's is one… Haagen-Dazs is another. A single scoop of ice cream can contain anywhere from 300 to 600 calories (one scoop!) and 11 to 20 grams of saturated fat. If you were to eat an entire tub of ice cream you could get as much as 1200 or more calories, an entire days worth for some raw foodists. Can you imagine that?
3. Twinkies – There is nothing healthy or worthwhile about these little yellow sponge cakes and yet they remain on the market decade after decade. Children love them and they send dozens of kids to the dentist year after year. If you have an addiction to them, please stop it. If you are smart, ban them from your house; Forbid your child from trying them. Tell your child why they are so useless. Try something better, like celery and peanut butter with carob. Really there are much more sensible and better tasting items to enjoy and you will get a lot more benefit from them.
4. Fried Potatoes – Especially the kind you get from certain fast food places that are loaded with salt. You take something that is generally healthy, soak it in fatty oil, not the healthy kind, and you dump about a thousand pounds of oil on it and call it healthy? Not likely. You are likely to ingest a lot more oil than anything else when you eat French fries from again, a fast food joint.
5. Nachos – Now, what possibly could you find healthy about eating nachos? The very name “nachos” implies poor health. You take a non-healthy food (nacho) meaning usually ‘salty chips’ and pile on a bunch of unhealthy substances. Usually this involves loading the chip with a large volume of fatty substances which may include some healthy substances (like avocado and tomato) and then a bunch of potential deadly substances (like fake cheese, sour cream and the like). Most people taste the salt in nachos and chase it down with equally unhealthy beverages including plenty of beer or much worse, mixed beverages. If you can avoid nachos, do!

If you really miss some of these unhealthy foods you can find a much healthier raw food alternative. You fancy some ice cream, make your own with frozen bananas and raw chocolate. You fancy some nachos, make your own with vegetable chips. Trust me, there aren't any resources lacking out there to be healthier.

If you are running out of ideas, check out our new recipe page or get busy in the kitchen with our Chop-To-Impress Gourmet cookbook.

By TTS Cofounder Botanical Chef Omid Jaffari