Superfoods

elnino1977

Lately particularly the last month I have been trying to eat better and look after my health. Currently I have been eating 2 banana's a day and also an apple.

I have Weetabix for breakfast everyday and a different dinner each day which always includes meat and Veg. I also take a cod liver oil vitamin each day.

Also for the last month I have been taken 2 spoonfuls of Hemp everyday even though I hate the taste of it. I hope I am getting the benefits of it though by the way I am taking it. I put the spoonful of hemp in my mouth and just wash it down with some water as if I am taken a tablet, is it ok to take like this.

Tomorrow I am looking to get flaxseed into my diet buy purchasinga packet of the Linwoods Flaxseed, but there is so many of them I am not sure what one to buy, I am thinking of buying the Organic Flaxseed with sunflower and pumpkin seed??? Any advice would be great as I want to make sure I am doing things right for a change!!!!

Also if I have placed this thread in the wrong area I am very sorry. Many thanks for reading!!!

Dizzyblonde

This is a question for the Nutrition & Diet forum.

Moved from Food & Drink.

elnino1977

I am sorry Dizzyblonde, thanks a lot for your help:)

padma

Give Moringa a go, packed full of nutrients http://www.moringasource.com/

elnino1977

Thanks padma , I will check that out defo!!!

syklops

Id drop the weetabix for a start. Maybe bacon and eggs instead?

elnino1977

Hi Syklops, Weetabix no use as a breakfast then? I do generally eat a lot of eggs though so no worry I that score!!!

syklops

elnino1977 wrote: »

Hi Syklops, Weetabix no use as a breakfast then? I do generally eat a lot of eggs though so no worry I that score!!!

Its not that its no use, but if you are trying to eat better, then you should avoid processed foods, which weetabix is.

elnino1977

Yeah very true I never even looked at it or other foods in that way, cheers mate, I have a lot to learn still!!!!

--Kaiser--

I hate the term 'superfood', expecially as it's usually given to food with mediocre nutrient content (berries and that), but if I was to call a food a superfood, it would be liver or eggs. Both incredibly nutrient dense

elnino1977

Thanks Kaiser for the post, so do you think the hemp and the flax seed are a waste of time then?

Stench Blossoms

elnino1977 wrote: »

Thanks Kaiser for the post, so do you think the hemp and the flax seed are a waste of time then?

I would say yes.

Sort out the rest of your diet. Eat real proper food and if you aren't getting the nutrients you need THEN use them as supplements.

vicwatson

Bacon is processed food.

Kiwis are superfood

--Kaiser--

elnino1977 wrote: »

Thanks Kaiser for the post, so do you think the hemp and the flax seed are a waste of time then?

I'd certainly never eat them. If you want omega 3s then eat some fish

vicwatson wrote: »

Kiwis are superfood

No they aren't, they're just fruit with a reasonable amount of nutrients

vicwatson

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

No they aren't, they're just fruit with a reasonable amount of nutrients

Oh right, and the definition of a superfood is.........?

One serving of kiwi gives the body 230% of the RDA for Vitamin C, which helps heal wounds, increase iron absorption, and boost the immune system

I reckon it's pretty super

--Kaiser--

vicwatson wrote: »

Oh right, and the definition of a superfood is.........?

One serving of kiwi gives the body 230% of the RDA for Vitamin C, which helps heal wounds, increase iron absorption, and boost the immune system

I reckon it's pretty super

Not really that impressive, peppers provide more vitamin C than that

syklops

vicwatson wrote: »

Oh right, and the definition of a superfood is.........?

A food which can leap tall buildings in a single bound?

tunguska

padma wrote: »

Give Moringa a go, packed full of nutrients http://www.moringasource.com/

+1. I thought I was literally the only person in the country who took Moringa. Asked in every health food shop I went into and not only did they not stock it but the staff had never heard of it.
Theres more to a food than its vit C content. Theres anti-oxidant score(ORAC value), phytonutrient content, whether it has a high concentration of anthocyanin polyphenols or not. A few foods(and drinks) that would be considered superfoods are:

Moringa oleifera
Red cabbage
Cinammon
kale
watercress
Chlorella
Blueberries
Matcha green tea
Cherry active
Goji berries
Cacao powder
Grapefruit
Agave nectar
Avacados
Coconut oil
Chia seeds
Quinoa

padma

The moringa is brilliant alright, I'm getting mine shipped in from the UK currently as it can't be found here.

BGozIE

Not sure myself, but just reading through suggestions I wanted to ask...

Is spinach a "superfood"?

It's just I've been eating a lot of fresh spinach lately, is it very beneficial or not?

syklops

tunguska wrote: »

A few foods(and drinks) that would be considered superfoods are:

Moringa oleifera
Red cabbage
Cinammon
kale
watercress
Chlorella
Blueberries
Matcha green tea
Cherry active
Goji berries
Cacao powder
Grapefruit
Agave nectar
Avacados
Coconut oil
Chia seeds
Quinoa

Im not sure if you can call a highly processed concentrated cherry drink a superfood.

Sprog 4

BGozIE wrote: »

Not sure myself, but just reading through suggestions I wanted to ask...

Is spinach a "superfood"?

It's just I've been eating a lot of fresh spinach lately, is it very beneficial or not?

I'd keep it up. Green veggies are very beneficial. Try to eat a variety of them though.

elnino1977

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

I would say yes.

Sort out the rest of your diet. Eat real proper food and if you aren't getting the nutrients you need THEN use them as supplements.

Thank you all for your comment and info which I am taking on board:)

Stench in regard to your comment I am taking the hemp and the flax seed in addition to my brakfast, lunch , dinner and fruit daily. So I am not forgetting about food but rather adding the hemp and flax seed to my diet but I don't want to be wasting my time if it's no use to me?????

Pace2008

vicwatson wrote: »

Oh right, and the definition of a superfood is.........?

A marketing term, cut from the same cloth as "natural", created by people who know **** all about nutritional science but are pretty handy at promoting and selling their snake oil.

padma

Pace2008 wrote: »

A marketing term, cut from the same cloth as "natural", created by people who know **** all about nutritional science but are pretty handy at promoting and selling their snake oil.

I tend to disagree as it is nutritional scientists themselves who study certain foods and are able to analyse and break down what vitamins are naturally found in certain foods, what the health benefits are and what is needed by our body to live a healthy lifestyle.

Other good superfoods are broccoli, honey, carrots etc a lot of vegetables.

Nowadays we do need to distinguish between natural foods and unnatural processed foods. It's called having an awareness of what you are putting in to your system.

El_Dangeroso

I like to think wine is a superfood.

padma

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I like to think wine is a superfood.

I believe the red is good stuff.

gollywog

syklops wrote: »

A food which can leap tall buildings in a single bound?

Well played friend, well played!!!

rubadub

One scam they use is to compare dried "superfood", like goji berries, to fresh fruit like apples or oranges. If they similarly dried the apples & oranges their values would increase about 8 fold, and sometimes put the "superfoods" to shame.

RDA's are usually the minimum required, not optimum. So RDAs of vitamin C are usually the minimum amount to stave off scurvy, while people might take 20-30 times that RDA.

Pace2008

padma wrote: »

I tend to disagree as it is nutritional scientists themselves who study certain foods and are able to analyse and break down what vitamins are naturally found in certain foods, what the health benefits are and what is needed by our body to live a healthy lifestyle.

But they are not assessing these foodstuffs to see if they are "superfoods" or not. This is because there is no set criteria to determine what is or isn't a "superfood" . It is not a term you will see in widespread use in any respected, peer-reviewed journal of nutrition and dietetics, because it is not useful as a tool for categorising foods.. It is, however, popular with self-styled nutrition gurus trying to sell books, and health stores trying to sell very expensive berries.

There are foods that contain a lot of bang for their buck, no doubt. But diet is a cumulative affair where the bigger picture is what counts, and no single food is going to have a make-or-break effect on your health. Hence I think "superfood" is ridiculously overexaggerated term and effectively a gimmick.