Super foods - Marketing Gimmick or Miracle in Nutrition?

Super foods - Marketing Gimmick or Miracle in Nutrition?

In this fast-paced, give-me-what-I-want-and-give-it-to-me-now world that we live in, we are all more than familiar with the concept of super foods – a concept popularized by Dr. Steven Pratt and other doctors who claimed that certain foods have specific and advanced health benefits for the body. The concept quickly caught on with people who thrive on junk food, find no time for exercise and generally look for short cuts wherever possible.

But with the rising popularity of super foods, the dollars spent in research and the glossy marketing packages that they come in, the question remains – Super foods – are they a marketing gimmick or a miracle in nutrition?

While all super foods do have a specific health benefit, it’s important to read the fine print. There is no point in throwing your money to buy anything off the shelf. After all, what if that particular health benefit isn’t one that you need? Therefore, instead of investing in some exotic African algae, it just might make sense to fill our plates with orange, yellow, green and brown foods on a daily basis.

Technically, there is nothing wrong in buying super foods. As long as you don’t get carried away with the stunning model endorsing the product and expect to have the same outcomes by simply hoarding your fridge with expensive and exotic super foods that you really don’t need. Sometimes, it can even be dangerous. When you overload your body with an excess of nutrition that you don’t require, you could land yourself in some serious cellular damage.

So it’s important to go back to the basics. The keyword still remains ‘balanced’ when it comes to diet. And there really are no short cuts. You just have to care enough about your health and well-being, to take the time to eat what’s healthy and doesn’t settle on your hips, boost up your bad cholesterol or clog your arteries. And that doesn’t even cost too much. All it takes is a trip to your regular grocery store. Buy an assortment of fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals that make excellent antioxidants and fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. There is nothing available in super foods, which is not already available to you in its unpretentious cousins in the common man’s grocery store.

In fact, the concept of super foods has often been compared with the famous analogy of giving ice to an Eskimo. The point being, the Eskimo will buy it if he does not know that the thing his house is made of is called ice.

Yes, super foods are all about fighting cancer, avoiding heart risks and increasing longevity. But if you ask the people from Okinawa, Japan (the world’s highest concentration of centenarians) they will tell you that they eat an average of 5-7 servings of regular, far from exotic fruits and vegetables every day.

And no sir, they’ve never heard of super foods.