As a natural healthcare practitioner, I often get asked about superfoods by clients in clinic. It's a common trend in our society to search for foods that can miraculously heal the body and boost health. Foods and supplements often get marketed as such by companies wishing to make a profit off people's desire to get healthy.
But if I'm being honest, there is no one miracle food that will cure every condition in the body. Foods all have their individual benefits and healing attributes (which I will describe further in this post). Combining these foods in a healthful and nutritious diet can improve health and prevent many lifestyle related health conditions.
Therefore, in today's blog post I am giving you my top ten superfoods for improving health.
What is a superfood?
A superfood is a food that is rich in nutrients and considered to be particularly beneficial to human wellbeing and health. In a nutritional sense, there is no such thing as a superfood. This term was coined by marketing supplement and food companies to sell products. It is important to understand that there is no single food that can improve health. However, this term doesn't appear to be going away in the long term so I decided to address it in todays blog.
Benefits of superfoods (when combined with healthy diet):
Improved cardiac and heart health including blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease risk
Improved weight loss
Increased energy levels
Reduced effects of aging
Stabilising blood sugars
Boosted immune system
Enhanced skin health
Prevention of cancer
Top ten superfoods (nutrient dense foods):
Avocado – contains fibre, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats, reduces inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and cancer
Sweet potato - contains potassium, fibre and vitamins A and C – stabilises blood sugar and assists diabetes, contains antioxidants that can prevent cancer
Dark leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach, parsley) (contain folate, zinc, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin C and fibre)
Berries/Acai (high in antioxidants great for many lifestyle related health conditions)
Green tea (high in antioxidants and theanine which is calming to the nervous system)
Garlic (improves blood pressure, cholesterol and immune function and contains manganese, vitamin C, vitamin B6, selenium and fibre)
Olive oil (reduces risk of heart disease and diabetes and contains vitamins E and K, which can protect against cellular damage from oxidative stress)
Ginger (great for nausea, inflammation and therefore pain, heart disease, cancer and dementia)
Turmeric (best paired with fatty food for absorption – great for inflammation, antioxidant, cancer, heart disease, diabetes)
Salmon (reduces inflammation, healthy weight, heart disease and diabetes - best to have 2-3 servings per week)
I hope this helps you all to understand the term superfood better and improve health and diet with these nutrient dense foods.
Branwen