Superfoods

What makes a superfood?  Currently there is no legal or medical definition for superfoods.  Most definitions are based on nutrient density.  Including antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, all sorts of things that may reduce the risk of chronic disease. That means that these foods give you more than the sum of their parts.  For instance, some help you lose weight, lower cholesterol, or balance your mood.  In other words you get more bang for your buck with these foods.  Generally they are low in calories, high in fiber, and rich in good fats.  That makes for some pretty fabulous health benefits. 

Our definition is a bit different.  Not only are our superfoods super packed with good stuff for your body, they are super packed with good stuff for your taste buds (for instance NOT maca powder; its nasty!) and are super easy to find.  Well maybe not super easy to find but you should at least be able to find all of these at your local grocery store or natural food market.  You won’t need to search high and low and eventually buy them online.  Hopefully.  Maybe you live in some remote part of Montana.  They don’t have ANYTHING there.  Don’t worry.  If you live in Montana you can find these items online or substitute.  Some hard to find super duper foods we took off our list are the yacon root, noni fruit, and mangosteen.  If you can find them, give them a try.  We’ve also excluded supplement type foods like bee-pollen and royal jelly. 

Without further ado, the following are our list of superfoods. 

1. Algae and sea vegetables
2.  Apricots and Peaches
3.  Artichokes
4. Asparagus
5.  Avocado
6. Bananas     
7. Beans (and Lentils)
8. Berries – esp. Blackcurrants, Goji Berries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Acai, Cranberries  
9. Cacao (aka chocolate, rich, creamy, dreamy, dark chocolate)
10. Citrus – esp. Lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit
11. Cruciferas Veggies – esp. Broccoli, cabbage, sprouts    
12. Dark Green Leafies – esp. Watercress
13. Figs 
14. Green Tea
15. Honey, raw
16.  Kiwi
17. Mushrooms – esp. Shitake
18. Nuts and Seeds – esp. Walnuts, Almonds, Pine Nuts, Flax, Chia Seeds. 
19.  Oily Fish – esp.  Salmon.  
20. Oil – esp. Olive and Dark Sesame
21.  Papaya
22.  Pomegranate
23.  Probiotics (like the kind found in natural yogurt)
24.  Red Grapes and Red and White Wine
25.  Root Vegetables – esp. sweet potatoes, beets
26.  Soy
27.  Squash – esp. Pumpkin
28.  Sweet Peppers
29.  Tomatoes
30. Turkey
31. Whole Grains – esp. Oats, Quinoa, Millet, Wild Rice
32. Chili Peppers
33.  Cinnamon
34. Garlic
35.  Ginger
36. Rosemary
37. Turmeric

So you may be wondering why we included so many non-local foods in our list.  Well depending on where you live some of them may be more local than others.  Eat local whenever you can but eating from our superfood list, may help provide nutrients you might have trouble getting.  While vitamins in pill form have taken over as a nutritional substitute for eating healthy, they cannot truly take the place of whole foods.  The combination of vitamins and minerals with micro nutrients in whole foods is what our bodies are designed for.  We cannot process the overload of nutrients from a little pill, most of which eventually end up in the toilet. 

Over the next year, we’ll be posting about each of these superfoods.  So tell us which ones you want to hear about first!