We’ve all heard the word superfood thrown around a little too much in the media to describe foods that are particularly healthy for us but what is a Superfood? Could not what supposedly makes them healthier than other foods just be a lot of hype?
There is no actual legal or medical definition for the word ‘superfood’ which means that essentially magazines and TV shows have been able to use the term whenever they like to make you want to buy their products without having scientific evidence. Some known superfoods are kale, blueberries and green tea (okay technically a drink not a ‘food’) but what’s so special about these so-called superfoods and more importantly are they really ‘super’?
Well, foods that are labelled this way apparently have high levels of antioxidants and/or vitamins that help the body fight disease. It’s true that foods like blueberries do have amazing benefits and there are claims that they help improve memory, but claims surrounding it are not backed-up by science so they’re probably no healthier than other fruit.
All plant-based foods are packed full of nutrients that help to fight the free radicals in our body. Free radicals are the cells that can encourage disease and cause ageing. Of course you should eat and drink as many ‘superfoods’ in your diet as you can but that is just because we should all be living a healthy lifestyle, not because you think that eating blueberries will supposedly stop you from getting cancer. They could help to prevent it but there are no guarantees and not enough evidence.
In order to get the best nutrients into your body and have the best chance of fighting illnesses don’t rely wholly on superfoods because many of them have the same amount of vitamins and antioxidants as other foods that aren’t classed as ‘super’. Instead, eat a rainbow cocktail of fruits and vegetables because the wider the variety of ‘colours’ you eat the more vitamins and minerals you’ll be putting into your body.
Eating superfoods can’t be eaten alongside a mainly unhealthy diet in order to counteract the bad effects! That’s unfortunately not how it works. All you’ll be doing is putting that junk food into your system and the vitamins and minerals won’t stand much of a chance against it.
Until there’s much more scientific evidence that superfoods really are more ‘super’ than others, aim to eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, protein, carbohydrates and good fats! If you do this you’ll be getting so many amazing health benefits from the variety and you’ll feel your best!
