What’s so Super about Super Foods anyway?
Super foods include foods that have a dozen or more unique properties, not just the one or two properties that regular foods contain. A great example of why some foods have the word super put in front of them is the Goji berry- these are powerful little nuggets!
This tiny little berry is exploding with super nutrition, not only a source of complete protein, 21 trace minerals, Vitamins B1 B2 B6 and Vitamin E, this mild mannered super hero of the plant kingdom contains immune stimulating polysaccharides. Polysaccharides play a role in immune function, our digestive function, and our detoxification system. What about Human Growth Hormone- heard of that? HGH decreases with age leading to symptoms of aging such as lower energy levels muscle wasting and a tendency to store more body fat (I can hear the screams now!) Goji are the only food known to stimulate the body to produce more HGH naturally. More HGH means more testosterone boys!
Asians regard the Goji Berries as a sexual tonic that improves overall stamina, mood and well being. And lets really get our “phyto chemical” on, Goji berries are full of phytochemicals, first up- betaine, with all its liver cleansing properties, and the anti-inflammatory beta-sitosterol, or the ever so sort after anti-aging sesquiterpenes and let’s not forget the anti-oxidant tetraterpenoids.
Super foods can be immune boosting and stimulating, hormone modulating, detoxifying, cleansing, antibacterial, anti viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti mutagenic- another term for having anti cancer properties.
Super foods are found in many sources, ranging from seaweeds, plants, teas, vegetables, bees, seeds, fruits, berries and fish to name a few. There are also certain herbs which are classified as super herbs due to their unique super tonic properties.
Why is it so important we get these super foods into our diet?
This depends on how clean your food air and water is. If you are not fortunate enough to live on the Northern NSW Rivers, or any other lush area of this great Australian spaciousness – then that urban and suburban life style you are living may possibly have you eating the Standard American Diet- and the acronym really speaks for itself.
It may be worth pointing out that Australians are now officially fatter than Americans- true! Whilst attending an educational Congress of health professionals down in Melbourne recently, that was one of many statistics that left ours chins resting on the desk in front of us. Aussies are fatter than Americans! So really, that Standard American Diet (SAD) needs to be renamed to the Standard Australian diet. Get moving people!
Do you eat a diet high in organic produce? Like most of the population you probably can’t afford to buy an Avocado for $4 or a lemon at $2 a pop – in fact the closest you’ll probably ever come to your hunter gatherer roots is a search down Isle 1 deep into the meat section for a portion of beef cut to your dollar preference. And what about those Palaeolithic harvesting skills that extend as far as a “squeeze and sniff” in the produce section?
Our diets these days are skewing greatly from that of the uncontaminated whole foods, leafy greens, raw vegetables nuts and seeds that us humans require for optimal health, and are leaning more toward that typical SAD diet. The standard American Diet is high in mineral deficient refined grains & hydrogenated vegetables oils.
All that, along with terrible over population of our planet, resulting in mass production from food industries such as the economic driven Grain Beef and Dairy industries that seem to give us more intolerances and disease rather than good health.
What about the humble veggie? Our vegetables and fruits have been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and any other “cides” I may have forgotten. Most cattle are fed nothing but a single grain – a diet of one grain for a living being! How can that be good for the animal or the human that will eventually eat the animal? Not to mention the antibiotics and steroids- yes steroids, pumped into our meats and poultry. While I’m at it- I can’t let the mention of my favourite food of all- seafood, go without its own honourable- or perhaps dishonourable mention.
Most of us know our salmon is farmed. You would be forgiven for assuming it would therefore be clean and nutritious coming from a farm. In part that is true, farmed salmon is away from heavy metals- particularly mercury & the radioactivity of Japans oceans- true, the higher levels of Mercury and heavy metals are not as prevalent in farmed fish. However, the reason most of us eat Salmon is for its brain and heart healthy omega 3 fats, and it is the omega 3 levels that are drastically reduced in farmed Salmon. Not only that, there is another antioxidant in Salmon called Astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is very rich in wild Salmon only- not farmed salmon.
Astaxanthin is derived from the algae salmon eat in the wild. It is the Astaxanthin that makes salmon pink and also gives salmon its strength to swim up streams as far and wide as they do. Astaxanthin has many benefits for humans when they consume it within Salmon also. Farmed salmon do not eat Astaxanthin rich algae, farmed salmon are fed pellets! Yes, are feeding our fish- an ocean creature, pellets. On top of that, farmed salmon are injected with antibiotics due to such limited and often cramped farming areas.
Our soils are so over harvested with mineral depleting chemicals that there are no minerals left in them- if there are no minerals in the soil, how will our plants that grow in those soils obtain minerals if they are unable to take them up in their roots?
The toxic over load coming from so many environmental pollutants and toxins is overwhelming to the human body, causing many disease states.
So what can you do? Get your own veggie patch happening, throw in a couple of chooks, plant a couple trees- citrus and nut perhaps, knock up a bee hive 😉 and head down to K-mart for a fishing rod! It would be nice if we could all do that. Truth is, most of us in Australia are coastal dwellers living in cities.
Super Foods are true health foods. They are known to improve the severity and symptoms of nearly every major disease condition known- to name a few;
Allergies, Arthritis, Asthma, Atherosclerosis, Attention deficit Disorder, Cancer, Chronic fatigue, Depression, Diabetes, Eczema, Fibromyalgia, Heart disease, Hepatitis, Herpes (I, II, Epstein- Barr)
High Blood Pressure, HIV Infections, Hypoglycaemia, Insomnia, Multiple Sclerosis, Nervous System Disorders, Poor Immunity, Psoriasis, Skin Disorders.
A list of some of our best superfoods:
Goji Berries Cacao Maca Bee products Spirulina | AFA- Blue Green Algae Marine Phytoplankton Aloe Vera Hempseed |
