FoodBlog Bytes: Know your Superfoods? Here’s our 2022 Prediction! 🥒
At some point while browsing the internet, you've probably come across the term ‘superfood’. This term has actually been around for at least 15 years, and yet it’s showing up on our social media feeds now more than ever. So what does it mean, and are there really certain foods that have special health properties outside regular nutrition? 🤷
What’s in a word
Wikipedia defines superfoods as a “marketing term” for food items that are “assumed to confer health benefits” because of their “exceptional nutrient density”. But it also says this term is “not commonly used by experts, dietetics and nutritional scientists”. 🤓
Let’s unpack this:
- “marketing term” - meaning there’s a large element of consumerism.
- “assumed to confer health benefits” - not all the benefits you may read about online are backed up by scientific evidence.
- “not commonly used by experts, dietitians and nutritional scientists” - yet these are the people you should be listening to when it comes to real food facts.
Commonly claimed-to-be superfoods include the following: almonds, acai berries, goji berries, cranberries, blueberries, seaweed, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, maca root, spirulina powder, kale, seaweed, quinoa, turmeric, bee pollen, wheatgrass and ginger. 🐝
Some of these foods are common whilst others you may not have ever seen in your life, but the similarity between them is that they’re all claimed to have special nutritional density, be full of antioxidants and have healing effects as well as reducing your chance of developing health conditions. 🧑🔬
Acai berries are an exotic fruit and have become increasingly popular in the past years. Many of the things you hear about acai are true: it’s high in antioxidants (another often misunderstood term), low in sugar, high in unsaturated fat and contains many beneficial plant compounds. But many other plants do contain these properties, whilst boasting many more vitamins and minerals than acai. Don’t get me wrong, I love an acai bowl, but it's something to consume in moderation rather than idolise. The same goes for the rest of the superfoods you hear about. 💜
The Superpowers of Foods: 2022 Superfood Prediction
These foods aren’t really as super as they’re made out to be - nutritionally speaking, there really isn’t such a thing as a superfood. But there are many foods which are really good for you, and you should make an effort to include them in your diet. Plus it’s always fun to see what the trends are, learn new recipes and guess what the hot shot trendy health foods will be this year. So without further ado… here are some of FoodBlog’s 2022 Superfood Predictions:
Mushroom Coffee
The mushroom madness has already started and in 2022, we’re definitely going to see a swarm of funghi lattes hanging about the coffee shops. 🍄
Sometimes you can even find Mushroom Coffee with added Ashwaganda - a supplement that will surely soar in 2022 as an anxiety and insomnia helper. 😴
Kiwi
Kiwis are high in serotonin - the happy chemical in our brains that keeps us jolly throughout the day. Kiwis are also great fruits to eat before bed as they kick in those sleepies. 🥝
Some people even eat kiwi fruit with the skin on… @gratefulveganguy. 🤔
Bone Broth
This is a hit or miss with most people. But what bone broth actually is, is bone broth… seriously, bones that are cooked down for hours with aromatics. 🦴
If you watch Bon Appetite's Master Broth recipe by Brad Leone, you’ll learn exactly why this collagen filled broth is so good for you. Add some fermented garlic or ginger to boost that gut flora too! 🌼
The Other Side of the Story
In 2007, the European Union banned the use of the term ‘superfood’ unless it was backed up by significant authorised statements regarding the health benefit of the product, after it was noted that sales on certain foods, such as blueberries in particular, were skyrocketing due to this kind of marketing. 🫐
Nowadays the wellness industry is just as profitable as big pharma, despite the fact that many people resort to alternative forms of healing such as consuming anti-inflammatory foods, because they believe that western medicine is all about the money and not as safe. In reality, there’s much more research done on the effects of medicine rather than foodstuffs, so this isn’t really a viable conclusion. 🤷
Naturally, superfoods are marketed as such for a reason: they have various nutrients and may form part of a healthy balanced diet. But this doesn’t mean that they’re any more special than your basic fruits and veggies. They’re also usually very expensive, and so it’s not really worth forking out the extra cash because there isn’t much evidence surrounding the magical disease-killing properties of these foods. 💰
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