Had it up to here with broccoli? Join the club. But it's hard to take it off the menu when it's such a great source of vitamins and minerals.

Luckily, variety is key and so here are the new generation of health-boosting foods - many of which do double or triple duty to help prevent illness.

1. POMEGRANATE
This fall fruit has higher antioxidant activity than red wine and green tea, which may be why a number of studies show it may prevent skin cancer and kill breast and prostate cancer cells. It also helps to:

* Fight Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at Loma Linda University found that mice drinking pomegranate juice experienced 50 percent less brain degeneration than animals that consumed only sugar water. The pomegranate drinkers also did better in mazes and tests as they aged.

* Guard your arteries
A group of diabetics who drank about 2 ounces of pomegranate juice a day for 3 months kept their bodies from absorbing bad cholesterol into their immune system cells.

2. KIWIFRUIT

A study from Rutgers University compared the 27 most popular fruits and determined that kiwifruit was the most nutritionally dense. It also boasts substantial amounts of vitamin E, and contains more vision-saving lutein.

* Lower blood-clot risk
In a 2004 study from the University of Oslo in Norway, participants who ate two or three kiwis for 28 days significantly reduced their potential to form a clot. They also got a bonus benefit: Their triglycerides, a blood fat linked to heart attack, dropped by 15 percent.

3. BARLEY
When some whole grains, such as wheat and oats, are processed, they lose  their fiber content. Not so with barley, which is full of soluble beta-glucan fiber in its whole kernel or refined flour form. Studies show this particular fiber may:

* Knock down bad cholesterol
By as much as 17.4 percent, according to USDA research. A 2004 study found that adults with moderately high cholesterol levels who went on a low-fat American Heart Association diet began to see an improvement when barley was added.

* Decrease blood sugar and insulin levels
This makes barley a better choice for people with type 2 diabetes.

4. CRANBERRY
Most people know this berry as a treatment for urinary tract infections but it also rich in antioxidants which give it cancer protection characteristics.

Compounds in the juice can actually alter antibiotic-resistant strains, making it impossible for the harmful bacteria to trigger an infection. A small pilot study from Harvard Medical School and Rutgers University found that eating about 1/3 cup of dried cranberries yielded the same effect.

* Help prevent strokes
Research on pigs with a genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis - narrow, hardened arteries that may lead to heart attack and stroke - found that those fed dried cranberries or juice every day had healthier, more flexible blood vessels.

5. BROCCOLI SPROUTS
Yes, we know...broccoli is good. Newly born broccoli - broccoli sprouts are better. They contain 20 times as much of disease-fighting sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS). SGS has been shown to:

* Kill tumours
SGS triggers enzymes in the body that either kill cancer cells or keep them from growing.

* Protect your heart
People who ate about a half cup a day of sprouts lowered their total cholesterol by an average of 15 points, and women in the study raised their good cholesterol by 8 points -- in just 1 week, found a Japanese pilot study.

* Save your sight
Exposure to UV sunlight over time may lead to an eye condition called macular degeneration, which is the number one cause of blindness in US seniors. Researchers at Johns Hopkins determined that broccoli sprouts can protect retinal cells from ultraviolet light damage.

6. KEFIR
This cultured milk drink stacks up in calcium - one 8-ounce serving contains 30 percent of the recommended daily intake, and contains more beneficial bacteria than yogurt. It may also:

* Reduce food allergies
Baby mice fed kefir had a threefold reduction in the amount of an antibody linked to food allergies, say researchers at an agricultural university.

* Battle breast cancer
Women age 50 and older who consumed fermented milk products had a lower risk than those who ate little or none.

* Avoid triggering lactose intolerance
Kefir contains lactase, the enzyme that people with lactose intolerance are missing, say researchers at Ohio State University. And the taste? Like plain yogurt, just a little thinner.

Dr. Mubina Jiwa is a member of the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors and the director of Essence of Health. Dr. Jiwa is also an Assistant Professor at The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.

W: www.essenceofhealth.ca