We all want to eat well. Not only healthy food, but The Best food - stuff we actually enjoy eating. To be The Best, a food has to have superhero qualities. It's gotta be able to save the girl, disarm the warhead and look good in tights, if you know what we mean.

SAVE YOUR HEART, NOT THE COW'S
Call it steak, hamburger, anything you want, just as long as you call it healthy. According to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, as long as it's lean, any cut of beef will have the same effect on your cholesterol as eating chick¬en or fish. And a recent study found that adding protein to a person's diet may actually lower the risk of ischemic heart disease by 26 percent.

HEY CHUMP, EAT LIKE A CHIMP
Bananas are easy for an unsteady stomach to di¬gest, and they contain the В vitamins that are sapped out of your body by excessive alcohol consumption. Restoring your supply is important because you need В vitamins to think clearly. Bananas are also high in fructose, which will help speed the metabolism of alcohol and shorten your hangover.

SERVE FISH TWICE A WEEK
You know that eating salmon helps prevent heart disease. Now there's another reason for the fish to be nervous: It may also protect you from can¬cer. According to a study published in the Amer¬ican Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who con¬sumed two or more servings of fish per week had a 50-60 percent reduction in rates of stomach, colon and pancreatic cancers. The researchers speculate that the fatty acids in fish such as salm¬on and tuna inhibit the growth of cancer cells. We speculate that researchers may inhibit the growth of the tuna and salmon populations.

STOP DRY SKIN - EAT AN APRICOT!
Why slather on your wife or girlfriend's apricot-scented lotion when you can eat the real thing and prevent dry skin from the inside out? Accord¬ing to Dr. Richard Glogau, professor of dermatol¬ogy at the University of California at San Fran¬cisco, it's the vitamin A in apricots that does the trick. "Vitamin A helps your body manufacture more keratin, a substance that protects the skin from the elements," he says. Carrots, cantaloupes and sweet potatoes are also high in vitamin A. Avoid megadose supplements.



THICKEN YOUR HAIR - GRAB A BUNCH OF GRAPES!
To win the war against baldness, you need to beat dihydrotestosterone, a hormone that halts your hair follicles' growth cycle. And the best defense against DHT may be grape seeds. Japanese researchers discovered that when bald mice were treated top¬ically with grape seed extract, it stimulated their hair growth cycle in a manner similar to minoxidil, а к а Rogaine. Credit for the results goes to plant com¬pounds called proanthocyanidins. OK, you' re not a bald mouse. But it couldn 't hurt to take a supplement containing grape seed ex¬tract or include more red grape juice and red-grapes in your diet.

MAKE SCARS DISAPPEAR - SLICE SOME PEPPERS!
If you've suffered a nasty cut, make red bell pep¬pers part of your treatment plan. The extra vita¬min С will enhance the performance of tissue-building amino acids, which in turn will help prevent your gash from healing into an unsightly scar. "Vi¬tamin С is critical to the healing process and es¬pecially scar formation," says Chris Rosenbloom, a professor of nutrition at Georgia State Univer¬sity. Other foods high in vitamin С include kiwis, grapefruit juice and cranberry juice.

PREVENT WRINKLES - EAT SUNFLOWER SEEDS!
You already know that using sunscreen now will help prevent creases on your face later. What you may not know is that vitamin E can buy extra insurance for your mug. This antioxidant helps to combat wrinkle-causing free-radical damage. "Vi¬tamin E will help a sunburn heal faster if your body is stocked up on it," says Cindy Moore of the American Dietetic Association. In addition to eat¬ing avocados, sunflower seeds and whole grains, you can take a daily supplement containing 200 international units of E.

BEETS
Beets are high in folate (folic acid), a vitamin that helps protect against heart disease, stroke and colon cancer. They are also one of the best sources of anticancer antioxidants. Make them snack food. Cut beets into thin slices, top each with a dab of olive oil and fresh herbs and spices, and bake them on a cookie sheet for 30 to 60 minutes at 450e F. Baking intensifies beets' natural sweetness and locks in nutrients that are lost in the water if you boil them.