If you are like me and you follow health trends, one of the things you might have seen in food advertising is the term “Super Foods.” Perhaps the most prominent advertising campaign for this was the POM campaign for pomegranate juice. I have also heard it applied to Kale, blueberries, sweet potatoes and other veggies. Several of which don’t seem very “super” to me, particularly the Kale.
The first thing I wanted to figure out is what defines a Super Food? The unfortunate truth is that it is marketing companies. This is not a scientific term or one that dieticians would frequently use. The marketing companies would have us believe that generally speaking a “Super Food” is a food that has an “exceptional nutrient density” according to Wikipedia. What defines “exceptional” is very much open to interpretation.
A quick google search will give you with an abundance of lists of these super foods in varying numbers and debated make up. Generally speaking, the lists have a variety of fruits, vegetables, dairy, fish, some seeds and occasionally whole grains. They include typical foods that we would see in North American grocery stores such as blue berries, chia seeds, olive oil, yogurt, salmon and leafy greens. There are also more exotic options such as pomegranates, goji berries and wheatgrass to name a few.
As I researched deeper into this, (realizing that these lists of products are curated by marketing companies trying to sell new or under eaten foods to the mass market) it became clear that most lists comprised a well-rounded list of fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains. And I think that’s the message here, any of these foods, if added to an already balanced diet will help to improve the “nutrient density” of your diet. However, if you eat any of these foods in excessive quantities (just like anything else in life) it will lead to too much of a good thing and could actually become harmful if they are consumed at the expense of other more diverse food sources.
The bottom line is that if you want to eat kale or put chia seeds in your smoothie, go for it. Unfortunately, it won’t give you super powers but could help to balance out your diet with some additional nutrients.