The larder
The 64 ingredients our recipes lean on hardest, each with its own page: what a portion actually gives you, the evidence for why it earns kitchen space in perimenopause, what it should cost, and every recipe on this site that uses it.
Fish & seafood
Salmon
A 120g fillet carries roughly 2g of long-chain omega-3, several days' worth in one sitting.
King prawns
Nearly 18g of protein for under 80 calories, which is hard to beat anywhere in the supermarket.
Mackerel
Gram for gram one of the richest omega-3 fish you can buy, with around 2.4g in a single fillet.
Sardines
Eaten bones and all, one drained tin provides around 345mg of calcium, roughly a third of the day's target.
Eggs & poultry
Soy & plant protein
Tofu
Half a block of calcium-set tofu offers around 18g of protein and 200mg of calcium, plus a meaningful dose of isoflavones.
Edamame
Just under 100 calories buys you almost 10g of protein and 4g of fibre.
Tempeh
More protein than tofu, at about 20g per portion, with the whole bean's fibre still intact.
Beans & lentils
Cannellini beans
Around 9g of protein and 7g of fibre per half tin, with barely any fat.
Butter beans
Big, creamy and quietly full of fibre: about 6g per half tin.
Chickpeas
About 7g of fibre in half a tin, a decent stride towards the 30g daily target.
Black beans
Among the most fibre-dense of the tinned beans, at roughly 8g per half tin.
Puy lentils
Notably iron-rich for a store-cupboard staple: around 3mg per cooked portion, alongside 9g of protein.
Red lentils
A 60g dry portion cooks into a bowlful with around 14g of protein and over 4mg of iron.
Dairy & fermented
Greek yogurt
Strained thick, a 150g serving offers around 14g of protein and a sixth of the day's calcium.
Milk
One 200ml glass provides roughly 250mg of calcium, over a third of the UK's 700mg daily target.
Feta
Around 180mg of calcium in a 50g chunk, with enough salty punch to season a whole salad.
Kefir
A 250ml glass supplies about 300mg of calcium along with a far wider range of live cultures than yogurt.
Cottage cheese
Close to 18g of slow-digesting casein protein in half a tub, for under 150 calories.
Vegetables
Garlic
Nutritionally tiny at two cloves; the interest is allicin, formed when the cloves are crushed.
Onions
Quercetin and inulin in the vegetable you were cooking with anyway.
Carrots
A single large carrot gets you close to a full day's vitamin A as beta-carotene.
Ginger
The warmth is gingerol, a compound studied for nausea and joint comfort; the vitamins are negligible at a thumb's worth.
Cucumber
Roughly 96% water; hydration in sliceable form, with a whisper of potassium.
Tomatoes
The red is lycopene, absorbed far better once tomatoes meet heat and olive oil.
Spinach
Two handfuls carry around a fifth of a day's magnesium, plus folate, vitamin K and a respectable 2mg of iron.
Peas
Over 4g of protein and 4g of fibre in three spoonfuls; unusually generous for anything green.
Kale
One of the few plants whose calcium is well absorbed; a 70g portion brings just over 100mg.
Red peppers
One pepper supplies well over twice the daily vitamin C reference intake.
Leeks
A proper source of inulin, the prebiotic fibre that feeds gut bacteria.
Broccoli
Half a head covers a full day's vitamin C with 3g of fibre thrown in.
Chestnut mushrooms
B vitamins and selenium for 18 calories, plus savoury depth that lets you use less salt.
Avocado
Nearly 12g of fat, most of it monounsaturated like olive oil, with 3.4g of fibre alongside.
Red cabbage
The purple pigment is anthocyanin, berry-family polyphenols at cabbage prices, alongside a good dose of vitamin C.
Watercress
Gram for gram more calcium than milk; half a bag gives nearly 70mg, well absorbed.
Fennel
Three grams of fibre per half bulb for barely 30 calories, with potassium alongside.
Beetroot
One of the richest everyday sources of dietary nitrate, the compound studied for gentle blood-pressure effects.
Sweet potato
One roast sweet potato covers the day's vitamin A and brings 4.5g of fibre.
Fruit
Lemons
One lemon's juice gives around a third of the day's vitamin C, which helps the body take up plant iron.
Apples
Honestly, mostly water and 16g of natural sugar, but 3.6g of pectin fibre and polyphenols ride along.
Bananas
About 100 calories of quick carbohydrate with useful potassium; fuel rather than a health halo.
Raspberries
Around 5g of fibre per handful, with less sugar than almost any other fruit in the aisle.
Kiwi
One kiwi delivers roughly 60mg of vitamin C, most of a day's worth, plus actinidin, an enzyme that helps break protein down.
Blueberries
Anthocyanins, the pigments that make them blue, plus a modest 2g of fibre per handful.
Nuts & seeds
Sesame seeds
Remarkably calcium-dense for their size: a single tablespoon carries close to 100mg.
Almonds
About 80mg of calcium and nearly 4g of fibre in a 30g handful, which is unusual for a nut.
Walnuts
The only common nut with a meaningful dose of plant omega-3: about 2.7g of ALA in a 30g handful.
Ground flaxseed
Nearly 3g of fibre and over 2g of plant omega-3 packed into one tablespoon.
Peanut butter
Nearly 4g of protein per tablespoon and fats that are mostly the unsaturated kind.
Pumpkin seeds
One of the best plant sources of magnesium, around 150mg in a 25g handful, with 2.2mg of iron thrown in.
Chia seeds
Around 4g of fibre per tablespoon, plus 2g of ALA and a surprising 76mg of calcium.
Wholegrains & bread
Rolled oats
Beta-glucan, a soluble fibre; a 40g bowl provides about 1.5g, the amount linked to lower cholesterol.
Sourdough
Nutritionally close to other bread; the difference is the long fermentation, not extra vitamins.
Brown rice
A wholegrain with its bran intact, giving 2g of fibre and useful B vitamins per portion.
Pearl barley
Beta-glucan like oats, around 2g per 50g portion, alongside nearly 4g of fibre.
Quinoa
A rare plant food with all nine essential amino acids: 7g of protein in a 50g dry portion.
Store cupboard
Extra virgin olive oil
Polyphenols such as oleocanthal that refined oils lose in processing, alongside mostly monounsaturated fat.
Rapeseed oil
The lowest saturated fat of any mainstream cooking oil, with 1.3g of plant omega-3 per tablespoon.
Honey
Sugar, essentially: 5.8g in a teaspoon, with antioxidant traces too small to change the maths.
Tinned tomatoes
Lycopene, which is actually more available to the body from tinned tomatoes than from fresh ones.
White miso
Live cultures (if unpasteurised) and soy isoflavones, but also about 1g of salt per tablespoon.
Tahini
Around 65mg of calcium per tablespoon, plus iron and copper from the sesame seeds.
Dark chocolate
Genuinely mineral-rich: a 20g portion of 70% dark holds about 45mg of magnesium and 2.4mg of iron.
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