How many times have you heard someone refer to a food as a ‘superfood’? I mean come on, superfood myth vs. fact – do they really exist? I’ve often wondered because if you Pinterest or Google the term ‘Superfood’, you get like 682 different lists that all contain different foods.
While the term ‘superfood’ sounds awfully fancy and pretty healthy, the truth seems to be that it’s just a marketing gimmick made up to sell more food. If a food is full of nutrients that benefit your health and well being, it’s probably a good choice to eat it, unless you have some sort of allergy to it and then don’t eat it, you could get really sick.
Do they have superhero powers that make us more amazing and awesome? I’m ready to dive into superfood myth vs. fact to find out. What is the truth about ‘superfoods’?
What is a Superfood?
A superfood is defined as a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well being.
Given that definition, I can think of a few foods that I’d include but I’m guessing they really don’t qualify as ‘superfoods’.
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What’s On The List
What foods are on the various lists of ‘superfoods’? Once I started looking at ‘superfoods’, I realized there are many that are well known and then some you may have never even heard of before.
Well Known Foods
They could be any of these:
- Berries
- Eggs
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Dark Leafy Greens
- Legumes
- Dark Chocolate
- Avocado
- Green Tea
- Salmon
- Grapefruit
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Cinnamon
- Coconut Oil
- and more
Good grief, the list could go on a mile. How in the world are you expected to incorporate all of these into your diet? I don’t know many people that will turn down dark chocolate (that is one truth about superfoods) but this is a lot of different foods, and I haven’t even mentioned some others.
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Lesser Known Foods
These are the ‘superfoods’ that are a bit more obscure and may require going to a more natural grocery store or going online to purchase.
- Cacao Nibs
- Cacao Butter
- Cacao Powder
- Maca
- Spiriluna
- Matcha
- Chia Seeds
- Hemp Seeds
- Goji Berries
- Pitaya (Dragon Fruit)
- Acai
- Bee Pollen
- Collagen
- and more
Seriously, if I’ve listed off this many, there have got to at least be some overlaps in the vitamins and nutrients each of them contain. I mean, even the healthiest of eaters probably don’t consume many of these every week, much less every month. This is where the red flag comes up, superfood myth vs. fact, I should probably find out. What is the truth about superfoods?
I’ll admit, I’ve hopped on the bandwagon a bit and add several of these ‘superfoods’ to my smoothies and such but some of them can be pretty pricey so I thought it was time I dug a bit deeper to see what I could find about those that I use most often. I can tell you today that I have chosen to keep goji berries out of my pantry but you’ll have to wait until I explore them to find out why.
I’m excited to share with you what I find out when I dig deeper as well as being excited to share some of my favorite recipes that incorporate some of my favorites.
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Do you consume ‘superfoods’? Comment below and let me know which are your favorites and how you consume them.
Make it a green day!
I don’t tend to bother with superfoods much, although I’ll pop some chia seeds in most things and I always cook with plenty of garlic and ginger (plus turmeric) – that’s more due to taste though!
Ohhhh, I love garlic and ginger!