The 11 Best Foods You Don't Eat

This post on the New York Times' "Well" blog identifies the "11 best foods you aren't eating." And each one of these foods is accompanied with a brief explanation of what makes it healthy.

Some of the foods on this list -- like beets, for example -- are no surprise. But I eat a lot of foods with cinnamon, which is one of the 11 foods named. I suppose that's good news for me. But sardines? Yuck. No thank you. I love dried plums (otherwise known as "prunes") so that's an item I should try to eat more of.

To read about all 11 of these foods, click here.

The Cinnamon Oil Claim

In one of the more memorable episodes of the NBC sit-com "Seinfeld," Jerry tells Elaine that cinnamon babka bread "takes a bag seat to no babka." He added, "People love cinnamon. It should be on tables at restaurants along with salt and pepper."

Now, there may be a new reason to defend cinnamon's honor.

The N.Y. Times examined the claims that cinnamon oil is capable of killing bacteria such as E. coli and MRSA. These claims had all the sound of a pseudo-folk tale. But the Times reporter found that cinnamon oil has anti-microbial properties that make it capable of killing those bacteria.

In fact, reports the Times, one study found that cinnamon oil is "just as effective as several antiseptics widely used in hospitals."