super food definition

At present, no official food regulatory agency in the world has given a standardized definition of "superfood". The concept in the current public perception is a mixture of food marketing context and practical expression in the nutritional field.

The term first appeared in a banana advertisement by the United Fruit Company in 1915. In order to improve the cost-effectiveness of bananas, the merchants gave them the title of "super food", focusing on "cheap, nutritious, and good health", which is considered the earliest food marketing concept. Later, this method was used all the time, and it was applied to whatever category was popular: maca and enzymes that were very popular ten years ago, kale and chia seeds that were popular in the fitness circle a few years ago, and sea buckthorn and acai berries that are now sold out in live broadcast rooms. As long as they are "niche" or "high in nutrients", they can be packaged as super foods. The last time I went to the snack shop downstairs, even the newly grown broccoli seedlings were labeled as "super mini vegetables". A small box costs 28 yuan, which is more expensive than lean beef of the same weight.

Interestingly, the attitudes of the nutrition community and regulatory authorities toward this term have never been unified. On the one hand, there are public nutrition scholars and official organizations with tougher attitudes, such as the American Heart Association and the FDA, who have made it clear that there is no so-called "superfood" and that no single food can cover all the nutrients needed by the human body. Excessive praise will lead ordinary people into the misunderstanding of "single food health care" - I met a girl before who ate kale salad every day for three weeks in a row. Her protein intake was seriously insufficient, and her aunt postponed it for less than half a month. On the other side, there are more clinical nutritionists and fitness diet instructors who work on the front line. On the contrary, they feel that there is no need to beat this term to death with a stick. It is very useful to use it as a popular name for "high nutrient density food". After all, telling ordinary people for a long time about "the ratio of nutrient content to calories at the same quality" is far less troublesome than saying "this is a super food. Eating more of it is good for blood vessels." I usually tell the elderly at home that they should eat more blueberries to protect their eyes, but I don’t bother to look at the nutrition table to talk about anthocyanins as antioxidants. I just tell them that this is a super food, and he happily eats it. It is ten times more effective than telling the truth.

What everyone is arguing about most now is actually "how high a nutritional level is to be considered super." Take the ubiquitous sweet potato, for example. Some people say that its dietary fiber is three times that of white rice, and its glycemic index is only half that of white rice. It is fully qualified as an affordable super food. ； Some people say that its vitamin content is less than one-third that of spinach, and it is not even close to the entry level. Calling it a super food is just making up the numbers. Not to mention that many merchants have labeled ordinary oats and winter melon as superfoods to increase their prices in order to increase prices. This is also the core reason why many people think of it as an IQ tax when the word is mentioned - after all, it is common for anyone with these four words to triple or five times their worth.

In fact, there is really no need to insist on the precise definition of this word. If you think of it as a magic medicine that "can prevent all diseases and lose ten pounds a week", then it is 100% the IQ tax of cutting leeks.； If you think of it as a "highly nutritious food supplement that can be used to enrich your diet," if you usually drink yogurt and sprinkle two handfuls of chia seeds, and eat a salad with a few slices of kale, then it is just a popular label that makes it easier for you to choose food ingredients. Harmful, after all, diet is about balance and variety. If all health problems can be solved by eating a certain kind of food, nutritionists will be unemployed.