Products
So-called “superfoods” (superfoods) are foods to which special health-promoting properties are attributed due to their spectrum of ingredients. They are available, for example, in supermarkets and specialty stores as capsules, powders, tablets, as well as dried, fresh and processed foods. The term is now used inflationarily. For example, people also talk about super berries, super fruits and super herbs.
Representative
The following list shows an incomplete selection of typical superfoods: acai berries, aronia berries, bee products, camu camu, chia seeds, chlorella, feather cabbage, freekeh, barley grass, goji berries, pomegranate, hemp seeds, cocoa, coconut fat, turmeric, lucuma, maca, matcha, mulberries, moringa, noni, nuts, quinoa seeds, beet, spirulina, wheatgrass.
Ingredients
Superfoods contain healthy ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, protein and amino acids.
Effects
For example, the ingredients exert antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, cardioprotective, antihypertensive, and antitumor properties. These are usually results from laboratory or animal studies. Sufficient clinical data, on the other hand, are scarcely available. The spectrum of activity depends on the food being studied.
Areas of application
As health-promoting dietary supplements or foods. Superfoods are also touted for the treatment of diseases. However, this should be refrained from.
Adverse effects
Superfoods can be contaminated with undesirable substances such as pesticides and cause allergic reactions.
Criticism
The term “superfood” comes from marketing and is not a recognized scientific name for food. Local fruits, roots, vegetables and spices are just as suitable for a healthy diet. Targeted exotic products with a foreign name and a traditional use that are imported from faraway countries are marketed. The products and their uses are deliberately romanticized. Superfoods are often represented as actual miracle cures, which are to be suitable for the Vorbeugung and treatment numerous illnesses. However, from a scientific point of view, this should be avoided. There are no sufficient clinical data available. The results of laboratory and animal tests cannot be transferred without restriction to humans. It should also be noted that regular, perhaps even daily, use over many years would be necessary for disease prevention. And this is despite the fact that a prophylactic effect is usually not reliably proven. Finally, superfoods are usually more expensive than equivalent local or traditional foods.
Benefits
Certain health-promoting properties cannot be denied to superfoods. The hype that has been going on for some time may be leading to an increased general awareness of healthy eating.
