6 DELICIOUS PAIN ENDERS

Erase spring aches with these tasty treats

Tomatoes
TAME INFLAMMATION

You're 60% less likely to battle spring aches if your diet is rich in lycopene the pigment that gives tomatoes their cheery red hue, report scientists in the journal Molecules. The reason? Lycopene blocks the release of inflammation-triggering enzymes (COX-2 and TNF alpha) inside tissues. More good news? Cooked tomato products contain a lot more lycopene than fresh tomatoes-that makes your favorite pasta sauce a pain-taming hero!

Beef
MAXIMIZES MUSCLE REPAIR

After a long, cold winter hunkered down indoors, your first bike ride, forest trek or neighborhood walk can lead to painful micro-tears in muscles. A tasty Rx: beef! A study out of the Netherlands published in The Journal of Nutrition suggests that working three 4-oz. servings of beef into your weekly meals could boost muscle repair and growth by 47%. Thanks goes to beef’s rich stores of muscle healing protein, zinc and iron.