Superfoods
What are superfoods anyway?
Superfoods come in many different shapes and sizes. Superfoods are foods with a particularly high nutritional value. They are, among other things, rich in vitamins, minerals, or proteins, enzymes or good fatty acids. Superfoods are available as superfood powder and superfood capsules. These superfoods are often used as a supplement.
Superfood a marketing term?
It is sometimes claimed that 'superfoods' is a marketing term, but that is only partly true. To qualify for this term, a food must have an above average number of nutrients.
It may be foods which contain many different nutrients or products which have a particularly high concentration of one or a few nutrients. All these substances you need.
Healthy properties
That is too much of a good thing: there is no such thing as a life elixir. But we can assure you that superfoods contribute to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. This means that by choosing superfoods you run less risk of various health complaints and ailments.
What is the best superfood?
The beauty of superfoods is that there is not necessarily one best. This has to do with the fact that you find different nutrients in every edible plant, fruit and seed. To make a healthy lifestyle a reality, you need to combine different food products. It is also crucial to consume each food in moderation. Because no matter how healthy a superfood is, too much of the same is never good for the body.
Examples of superfoods
There are too many plants, herbs and fruits to list (nature is full of wonders), but if we were to tackle the savoury 'cake' that is superfoods, we would mention products such as cocoa beans, goji berries, chia seeds and wheat grass. Some of these products are exotic, while others you will find surprisingly close to home. In the end, variety is the key.
Close to home and far away
Far from all superfoods are of exotic origin. Until a few years ago, that was often the case. If you spoke of superfoods, then you spoke of products such as quinoa, raw cacao, quinoa and exotic berries from the Amazon region or a remote mountain range.
Today, typically Dutch products such as eggs, seaweed, kale, spinach, garlic and blueberries can also bear the title "superfood". You should also think of things like olive oil and oily fish.
Rich in good things
Regardless of their origin, all superfoods have one thing in common: they are very rich in building blocks for the body. All these foods are extremely healthy. It is important that you eat them in a balanced diet. Variation is the basis of any healthy diet. The great thing about superfoods is that they often taste incredibly delicious and surprising.
Superfoods and organic supplements
Exotic and 'everyday' super foods are now also available in powder or capsule form. The fruit Borojo, for example, is a fruit with one of the highest vitamin B levels in the world.
Not only is this fruit extremely healthy, but also remarkably tasty. Whoever claimed that only unhealthy food can be tasty? The fine of super foods is that you can experiment with flavors to your heart's content to get your substances.
Nettle a 'forgotten' super food
A common plant like the stinging nettle a super food? Yes. Known from stinging nettle soup, this plant with the burning leaves is packed with calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, manganese and vitamins A plus C.
The special properties of Maca powder
Maca powder is powder of the Maca tuber - a product that is appearing more and more often on the shelves of Dutch supermarkets. The Maca tuberous plant belongs to the cruciferous family and is therefore related to cauliflower and broccoli, among others.
This sounds surprisingly close to home. Yet you have to travel all the way to Peru to find the Maca tuber in its natural habitat. The special tuber grows in the Andes, at an altitude of 4000 meters.
Maca, a striking crop
Maca is a bit of an oddity among crops: this tuber feels at home in a place where almost no plants grow. The elongated leaves of the plant are often used in salads in Peruvian cuisine.
The plant was already consumed 3000 years ago by the ancient inhabitants of Peru. In Peru Maca is found in large numbers, in the rest of the world it is a curiosity, only available as a supplement in powder or capsule form.
The special effect of Camu Camu
Camu Camu is a special fruit that grows on the Myrciaria Dubia shrub. This plant originally grows in the western parts of the tropical Amazon (including Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, plus parts of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil). So this special fruit also originates from South America.
The fruit has the size of a lemon and has a light orange colour. The tropical fruit has a diameter of 2-4 centimeters and a smooth skin.
Reliable substances in Camu Camu
Camu Camu is approximately dark purple in colour, with yellow flesh that is sour in taste. In Camu Camu (also in Camu Camu powder) there is a lot of Beta-Carotene.
It also helps the skin that has been exposed to the sun too long. In addition to that, Camu Camu is rich in vitamin C. The fruit is also very tasty.
Chlorella powder
Chlorella powder is rich in all vitamins, except vitamin D, plus minerals (especially iron and calcium), enzymes, fat and amino acids, proteins, antioxidants, trace minerals and sugars. Chlorella is an alga that doubles itself every 10 hours. In 1975, it was discovered how it could be digested by the digestive system, after which it could be consumed.