Super Food Ranking

There is currently no official superfood ranking that is uniformly certified by the global nutrition community. All the lists you can find with specific rankings have some marketing tendencies of brand or origin. However, if we combine the long-term tracking data of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in the past 10 years, the dietary recommendations of the Chinese Nutrition Society for residents, and the ranking of cost-effectiveness and suitability for daily consumption by ordinary families, the five categories of ingredients with the widest audience and the highest measured effectiveness are, in order, fermented whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, berries, deep-sea cold-water fish, and Omega-3 enriched hybrid seeds.

Harmful, to be honest, the concept of "superfood" itself is controversial. I had a meal with a senior sister from the Food Department of the Agricultural University before, and she had complained to me before. The term was first coined by South American fruit exporters around 2000 in order to increase the premium of high-value-added fruits. Acai berries and Peruvian maca, which were popular around the world, are essentially products of origin marketing. If you really use them in the laboratory to test the nutritional content, they are not as useful as the 10 yuan a pound of blueberries in your downstairs vegetable market.

To be honest, I paid a lot of IQ taxes in the past two years. I bought three cans of acai berry powder for a few hundred yuan a can and mixed it with milk tea every day. Even after drinking it for three months, my skin did not glow and I did not lose weight. Later, my nutritionist friend gave me a scolding - not to mention how much active polyphenols were lost during the freeze-drying process. The inflammatory reaction caused by the high sugar in the cup of full-sugar milk tea completely offset the antioxidant benefits. With that kind of money, it is better to buy two boxes of fresh strawberries every week.

The number one fermented whole grain may not have been heard by many people, but it is actually the sugar-free fermented oats, natto, and fermented brown rice that you often eat. Why is it the most recognized by everyone? I used to adjust my dad's blood sugar by replacing the white rice he eats every day with half fermented brown rice. After half a month, his blood sugar stabilized by 2 points, which is much more effective than taking hundreds of dollars of anti-hyperglycemic health products. Of course, some people say that natto is too smelly to eat, so you can switch to fermented oatmeal noodles. As long as the whole grains are fermented and the anti-nutritional factors are decomposed, the nutrient absorption rate is more than 30% higher than that of ordinary whole grains. This is supported by public experimental data and is not just a boast.

Oh, by the way, if you see the ones that rank cordyceps, bird's nests, and caviar at the top of the superfood list, just cross them out. They are purely taxed by the rich. The protein absorption rate of bird's nests is not as good as eggs. The cordycepin content in cordyceps can be replenished by eating two more bites of shiitake mushrooms. There is no need to pay that money.

Speaking of dark green leafy vegetables, don’t believe the saying that “kale is the top super food.” I asked a doctor in the nutrition department of a tertiary hospital. If you eat half a pound of rapeseed and spinach, the flavonoids and iron intake will be no less than 5% of that of half a pound of kale. You can’t afford to spend more than ten yuan to buy a small box of imported kale. The lettuce downstairs that costs two yuan a handful is just as good. When I feel dizzy before my menstrual period, eating a plate of fried spinach is more effective than drinking 10 cups of brown sugar water. The absorption rate of iron is really not a metaphysics.

Berries are ranked third, and many people have objections. They say that berries are high in sugar and raise blood sugar. Indeed, if you eat a pound of grapes at a time, your blood sugar will definitely spike. But if you eat about 100g each time, which is a small box of blueberries or seven or eight strawberries, the anthocyanins and polyphenols in it are enough to help you fight inflammation. It is much more cost-effective than buying an antioxidant essence worth hundreds of yuan. Of course, the premise is that you don’t eat it wrapped in yogurt crisps and dipped in sugar. It’s better not to eat it at all.

Deep-sea cold-water fish is even more controversial. Many people are afraid of heavy metal accumulation. This concern is really reasonable, so eating it twice a week, 150g each time is enough. You don’t need to eat it every day, and give priority to small fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines. The heavy metal content is much lower than that of large tuna and swordfish. If you are allergic to seafood, just skip it. The last type of hybrid fish can be completely substituted.

I’m talking about chia seeds, flax seeds, and perilla seeds. I used to follow the trend and buy chia seeds. I soaked them in ice milk and drank them on an empty stomach in the morning. I had diarrhea for two days. Later I learned that people with weak stomachs should soak them hot, or grind them into powder and mix them in porridge or bread. 10g a day is enough. The Omega-3 supplement is no worse than deep-sea fish, and it is very cost-effective. A pound of flax seeds only costs more than ten yuan, which can last for two months.

In fact, after all, there is no absolutely correct ranking list? The ones I have listed are only the most universal ones. If you are allergic to gluten, then fermented whole grains are not suitable for you. If you are intolerant to fructose, you should eat less berries. The one that suits your physical condition is your first choice. There is really no need to focus on the unpopular imported ingredients on the list. The fresh dishes you can eat on your table every day are better than the "super foods" that are hyped at a premium.