Bad diets are responsible for more deaths than smoking. Around 11 million deaths annually are linked to diet-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
In the need of healthy diets, the so-called superfoods can help us lower the devastating number and boost your diet while improving your health.
What’s a superfood?
Superfood is the term assigned to those foods rich in compounds considered beneficial for your health (source)
These foods, due to their high content in micronutrients and other healthy compounds, should be present in your diet.
Most superfoods have the ability to boost your diet and improve your health (source)
*DISCLAIMER*
There are no Superfoods
Don’t get me wrong here. The food industry exploits the superfood label to make more money out of your pocket…
There’s no such thing as “superfood”. It’s important to understand that there is no single food with the ability to prevent disease or improve your health.
Rather, it’s a complete healthy diet which may be the key to good health.
Superfoods can be redefined as those foods you can include to achieve a healthy and complete diet.
That’s what will boost your diet and improve your health!
In the next minutes, some of the best superfoods to include in your diet.
Dark Leafy Greens
Dark leafy green vegetables (DLVG) contain significant amounts of folate, a B vitamin that promotes heart health and helps prevent certain birth defects (source
Salad greens, kale, and spinach are great sources of vitamin A,C,E and K. Broccoli, bok choy and mustard are also rich in many of the B-vitamins.
Vitamin K improves your bone building and blood clotting (source
These vegetables are very low in calories. They are a great option when doing a weight loss diet and improving your health
Berries
Berries are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.
Including such superfoods in your diet can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other inflammatory diseases (source)
Some of the most common berries include raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, or cranberries.
Berries have a lot of applications in your kitchen. Eat them fresh as a snack, or use them to make smoothies, sauces, ice cream sorbets…
Kefir
Kefir is a healthy fermented dairy product. Compared to yogurt, kefir contains more probiotic strains and has a thinner consistency.
Ginger
Ginger is a root traditionally used in Asian and Chinese cuisine. Due to its benefits, it was used in Chinese medicine to treat colds, nauseas, or migraines.
The ginger root is a great source of antioxidants (source). These compounds prevent stress and DNA damage. They help fighting heart disease, respiratory diseases, and promote healthy aging.
Ginger is available fresh, as a juice, and in powdered form. Add it in soups, teas, and sauces.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a traditional Indian yellow spice. It contains a powerful compound, curcumin.
Curcumin has the potential to improve heart health and prevent against Alzheimer’s and cancer. This superfood is considered a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
You can find turmeric in fresh or powdered form. Add it to your soups, meats, infusions, and sauces.
Seaweed
The term seaweed refers to nutrient-rich sea vegetables. There are as many varieties as land-plants, and can be classified according to its color; green, brown, and red.
Seaweed contains vitamins B, C, E, and K, omega-3, protein, polyphenols, and large amounts of minerals. These sea vegetables are one of the best sources of calcium and iodine.
Some of the compounds present in seaweed may reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes (source)
Spirulina
Spirulina is a blue-green algae with strong antioxidant effects. It’s a rich source of vitamins and minerals essential for a healthy and strong immune system.
This microalgae can help you reduce inflammation, risk of cancer, heart disease, and maintain good eye and oral health (source)
Kimchi
Kimchi is a traditional korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables. The vegetables used are usually cabbage or radish.
This fermented food is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants compounds with potential health benefits.
The potential benefits of kimchi are: anticancer, antiobesity, anticonstipation, colorectal health promotion, probiotic properties, cholesterol reduction, fibrolytic effect, antioxidative and antiaging properties, brain health promotion, immune promotion, and skin health promotion.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate contains cocoa, a brown powder made from roasted cocoa beans.
Cocoa is a rich source of magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper. It’s a potent antioxidant with a lot of interesting polyphenols for your health. The most important cocoa flavanols are catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidins.
Including dark chocolate into your diet can help you fight inflammation, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, improve learning and memory, and boost your immune system (source)
Sea Berries
Sea berries, also called Hippophae, is a natural source of antioxidants.
These orange berries are a great supply of calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamins B, E.
Sea berries can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, tumors, diabetes, and treat other gastrointestinal and skin problems (source)
Green Tea
Green tea is a tea variety made from Camellia Sinensis. Different from other types of tea, green tea leaves are not fermented, maintaing a larger amounts of antioxidants and polyphenols.
The most important polyphenol present in green tea is EGCG. This compound can help you prevent metabolic syndrome (source), and lose weight (source).
Including green tea in your diet can help you prevent cancer, regulate cholesterol, lose weight, regulate the aging process, reduce inflammation, and control neurodegenerative diseases (source
Ancient grains
Ancient grains like buckwheat, farro, and quinoa are much more nutritious than modern crops.
These grains contain large amounts of fiber and slow-releasing carbohydrates. They are a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins.
The nutritional matrix of ancient grains can help you boost your diet and improve your health over modern crops.
Avocado
The avocado is a fruit native of central Mexico and Guatemala. Although it’s a fruit, the nutritional value of avocado is somewhat different.
Avocados are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, being one of the healthiest fat sources. It also contains vitamins C,E,K, and B6, as well as folate, magnesium, and potassium.
Including avocados in your diet can help you lower the risk of heart disease (study), prevent development of chronic disease (study), and promote a healthy body weight (study)
Eggs
Eggs are considered one of the healthiest foods of all.
While the egg white contains large amounts of protein, the yolk is a great source of vitamins and minerals.
Eggs offer complete protein, and help increase the good cholesterol, lower the risk of heart disease, and contribute to a healthy lifestyle (source)
Salmon
The salmon is one of the most precious and healthy fishes. Living in cold and north waters, the salmon is considered a blue fish.
It’s one of the richest sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and contains large amounts of protein and polyunsaturated fats.
Including salmon in your diet can help you reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and decrease risk factors for disease (source)
Liver
The liver is an excellent source of iron and vitamin B12.
It’s considered the animal food with the highest nutritional density of all. One serving size of liver provides the recommended dose of biotin, chromium, copper, vitamin B12, B5, B2, A.
Conclusion
There’s no single food that can make you healthy on its own. However, there are certain foods, classified as superfoods, that can make an impact on your overall diet.
In this post, we have seen 16 superfoods to boost your diet and improve your health. Go to the mall and give them a try!
