It seems that half the things we normally eat have been relabeled lately, from being just normal food to being superfood. It’s gotten so bad that many of us have started to think, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
So WTF makes a superfood so super, anyways? Is it rich in vitamins? Or was it just treated with gamma rays?
As it turns out, the term “superfood” has no set definition. It can refer to anything seen as healthier than average, or to something that reputedly targets health problems related to specific diseases. However, like the term “natural,” it’s unregulated, which means that you could refer to candy as a superfood if you wanted. (Not that anyone would believe you, though. Well, maybe Rose from the Golden Girls.)
In fact, most nutritionists and scientists eschew the term “superfood,” as research on supposed health benefits isn’t promising. For example, a 2014 Harvard newsletter reported that eating heart-healthy superfoods alone won’t protect you from heart attacks. A better idea is to eat more unprocessed food with a lot of variety—because eating one healthy food exclusively usually means you get a lot of one benefit without supporting anything else. It’d be like only replacing the gas in your car while ignoring the engine oil, antifreeze, and brake fluid: You can drive for a while, but eventually you’ll have some problems.
Despite “superfood” being mostly a marketing technique, there is some hope: In 2014 researchers from the University of Warwick recognized a protein, Nrf2, as interacting with certain kinds of health foods. Nrf2 is found in every cell in your body, and reportedly monitors if cells are healthy. If they are under threat, Nrf2 activates cellular defense mechanisms to protect the cells. Nrf2 itself was found to run checks every 129 minutes, but when a vegetable-derived substance was added, the checks became faster: every 80 minutes. This means your cells can recognize and combat health problems faster, before more damage can accumulate.
So more or less, your parents were right all along: Eat your vegetables to grow healthy and strong.
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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