Superfood Silliness. Don't believe the hype. [View all]

[HuckleB]

http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/superfood_silliness

"Someone is always trying to tell us what to eat. It’s like religions: they can’t all be right, and they might all be wrong. One of the most pervasive food myths is the idea of “superfoods,” the belief that certain foods are particularly good for us.

Obviously some foods have more of certain nutrients than others, but the idea of “superfoods” is just silly. No food is a perfect source of all nutrients. Yes, spirulina (blue-green algae) has an impressive array of nutrients; but spinach has even more.

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Gayelord Hauser claimed that five wonder foods would add years to life: skim milk, brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, yogurt, and blackstrap molasses. Cider vinegar has been promoted as a cure-all that keeps the body in balance, thins the blood, and aids digestion. Wheat grass is said to cleanse the body, neutralize toxins, slow the aging process, prevent cancer, and supplement body enzymes with plant enzymes. I’ve never tried it, but it looks putrid and I’ve been told it tastes even worse than it looks. “Anti-inflammatory” foods like kelp, blueberries, shiitake mushrooms, and wild Alaska salmon supposedly counteract heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. The scientific evidence doesn’t support any of those claims.

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Superfood lists disagree with each other and can include as many as 200 foods. If these were all superfoods, almost all foods would be superfoods, making the concept meaningless. So many healthy foods are left off the lists that you could eat a healthy diet while avoiding everything on the lists. Believe it or not, raw meat contains every essential nutrient, even vitamin C, which is destroyed when meat is cooked. For obvious reasons, I wouldn’t recommend a raw meat diet.

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Yup.