The concept of superfoods have been around for the past several decades now but the term superfood is a fairly new term used for referring the edibles offering significant health benefits. Superfoods are power pack source of minerals, antioxidants, vitamins and so on. There is a common myth that superfoods are all plant based but this is not true. These power pack foods can also be animal based.Here in this article we will see what are Superfoods And How They Benefit our body.
Superfoods are high nutrition and low calorie foods providing numerous health benefits. They are very effective in preventing some of the very serious health problems such as, stroke or heart problem, arthritis, cancer, tumour, respiratory disorder etc. including superfoods in everyday diet can help in building immunity and also strengthen the body organs to fight against diseases. Intake of food high on flavonoids and antioxidants help in preventing deadly disease like cancer and heart diseases. In addition, they are also play significant role in maintaining appropriate body weight. Let’s take a look on some of the popular superfoods around us. Here is green superfoods.
Soybean
This is a low cost high nutrient food densely packed with isoflavones (photochemical type). As the name suggests photo-chemicals are plant based compounds. This is extremely effective in reducing the level of unhealthy cholesterol in human body. Experts also claim that regular intake of soy also help in fighting the old age memory loss issue. Women near to their menopause are benefitted by this, as it helps in reducing the painful menopause symptoms and increases the bone density.
Greens
Green leafy vegetables like spinach kale feelings another green vegetables are consider as some of the best super foods because their high in vitamin A, Vitamin K, vitamin D, vitamin C and so on. Further leafy greens are also high in calcium potassium, iron and magnesium content. Green vegetables have high water content, so they help in preventing constipation and ease the digestion process. One will be amazed to know that just one bunch of spinach can fulfil the daily requirement of vitamin K.
Dark Chocolate
This is one of the most loved superfoods. Chocolates are made from cacao powder derived from cacao beans. Research has revealed that dark chocolate have high amount of flavonoids, which is a type of antioxidant. This helps in preventing cancer and heart diseases and nourishes the immune system of the body. Manu other ingredients are mixed with cacao powder like sugar, liquid glucose and artificial flavours, which can decrease the health benefits of dark chocolate.
Tea
TEA is one of the most common breweries known to us. It helps in keeping the body hydrated and also is an excellent source of antioxidant. The best part about tea is that it is very low in calories, thus helps in maintaining body weight. Catechins, one of the most potent antioxidant found mainly in green tea. It has many anti-inflammatory properties that helps in keeping the body healthy and infection free. A study was performed on 21 students, they were divided into three groups 7 students each. One group was given green tea, second group was given water and the third group was given white tea for a period of two weeks. At the end it was found that students consuming in green and white tea had Low stress level compared to the group consuming plain water.
Further, it was found that white tea was more effective compare to the green tea.
How to include superfoods in daily diet
- Make sure that your plate is full of different colours. More colours means more nutrition, now colour should be natural food colours not the artificial colour. If the plat look more brown then it means that it is lack of antioxidant in your meal.
- Instead of purée add shredded or sliced vegetables in pan fry dishes and soups. Shredded vegetables have higher nutrition than purée.
- Replace red meat with lean meat and fishes.
- Increase intake of different types of berries.
- Include green tea, fruits and vegetables in daily diet.
- Spices like turmeric, clove, oregano, ginger have high antioxidants properties, make sure to add them in your curries, salads and soups.
- Unlike like unhealthy fried snack, try to snack on dry fruits, seeds and mixed nuts.
Superfoods supplements
Supplements can be option if the fresh superfoods are not readily available but one should be very careful while selecting the right supplement. Firstly, one should only consume superfood powder supplements which are approved by the food and drug administration (FDA). Do some research on the different supplements available and then make the purchase decision. Also, it is better to gather information from either the government authorised website or from non advertising website. It is always suggested to take opinion from a medical expert.
Risk
People believe that superfood supplements are equally beneficial as the organic superfoods, but this is not true. The nutritional value of natural and organic superfoods are much higher than what we get from supplements. However, good brands try to provide maximum nutrition from supplements without any side effects. On the contrary, they are some supplements contain preservatives that can cause serious biological damage to the body. At times supplements can also react with other medication and cause various side affects, which can be lethal.