Superfood swaps
by Gael Myers, Accredited Practising Dietitian
- March 14, 2019
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As featured on Today Tonight.
We hear about them a lot in the media and see them on supermarket shelves, but what exactly are superfoods? Well, there’s no real definition of what makes a food ‘super’. Generally foods with the superfood label have some kind of claim to the ancient or traditional and are expensive. Although they do tend to be quite dense in particular nutrients or antioxidants, there are lots of other foods that meet this criteria without the hefty price tag.
The word superfood is basically a marketing term used to bump up the price of a product. A healthy diet doesn't have to be expensive, Instagram worthy or include foods sourced from deep in the Amazon rainforest. A basketful of different in season fruits makes more sense nutritionally and economically than a fistful of organic goji berries.
So what should I be eating?
Unfortunately there is no silver bullet when it comes to nutrition. Focusing on individual foods or nutrients takes us away from the bigger picture of what we really need to be healthy - a range of minimally processed foods from across the food groups. Chuck in some social interaction, taking the time to cook and eat, and a regular dose of exercise and you have a winning combo that beats any tub of powdered 'alkalised greens' or expensive goji berries. Eating superfoods will not save you from an overall bad diet!
