List of Super Foods

Don’t be coaxed into buying blindly by Internet celebrity marketing. There are 12 core superfoods in 5 categories that are widely recognized by academic circles and registered dietitian circles and are highly cost-effective. Ordinary people can choose and eat them as needed every day. There is no need to pursue niche imported products, let alone spend a lot of money to pay IQ tax.

When I helped my pregnant cousin sort out the list of sugar-control ingredients last year, I read the superfood-related reviews in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in the past five years, sifted through the dietary guidelines of the Chinese Nutrition Society, and checked out all the 20 or 30 "Internet celebrity superfoods" that have been hyped on the Internet before I compiled this list. I also explained the most controversial points clearly to save everyone from making mistakes.

Let me start by mentioning that there is actually a lot of quarrel in the industry right now. One group is the "Fundamentalist Super Food Party", which believes that only niche wild ingredients originating in South America and Africa can be counted. Acai berry powder and Peruvian quinoa cost hundreds of dollars per pound. Even if the nutritional density per bit is much higher than that of ordinary similar ingredients, it is easy to obtain, and it is not that burdensome to eat. After all, spending several hundred dollars to buy a pound of imported freeze-dried acai berry powder is enough to buy ten pounds of local purple grapes in season. The anthocyanin content is less than 10%, so there is no need to calculate it.

Berries are the only uncontroversial category on both sides. Blueberries are the first choice. You don’t need to buy the big boxed imported fruits. Domestic small blueberries and even frozen blueberries are perfectly fine. The anthocyanin content per 100 grams is 5 times that of apples. I usually stock up a large bag and freeze it in the refrigerator. I grab a handful in the morning and throw it into sugar-free yogurt. The breakfast that is ready in one minute has much more antioxidant effects than the more than 200 bottles of anti-sugar pills I bought before. There are also mulberries that are ignored by many people. Friends in Jiangnan must have the impression that they cost 5 yuan per pound at roadside stalls in late spring. The anthocyanin content is higher than imported raspberries. They can be eaten directly after being washed or soaked in wine. The only disadvantage is that it is easy to stain your hands purple, so you must wash your hands carefully after eating.

Speaking of the most controversial, it must be kale among green leafy vegetables. The Fundamentalist Party calls it the "King of Vegetables", and the data is really good: the vitamin C content per 100 grams is twice that of lemon, the calcium content is about the same as low-fat milk, and the dietary fiber is excellent. During my previous fat loss period, I also tried boiling it in water and eating it with salad every day. After half a month, my bowel movements became much smoother. But the opposition is not unreasonable: its oxalic acid content is very high. If you don't blanch it for 30 seconds in advance to remove the oxalic acid, long-term consumption may increase the risk of kidney stones. Moreover, it tastes astringent. Many people hold their noses and cannot swallow it. Instead of suffering this problem, it is better to eat small rapeseed of the same cruciferous family. The calcium content is not much different, the oxalic acid is low, and it is very delicious when stir-fried, which makes it much more acceptable. Oh, and there is also a wild baby purslane. It is everywhere in the roadside flower beds in summer. After it is blanched and mixed with minced garlic vinegar, the Omega3 content is higher than that of many shallow sea fish. My grandma picks it and eats it almost every day in summer. It is much more than the kale powder I buy for tens of dollars per bag.

The cereal I recommend most is not the fried quinoa, but the ordinary raw oats. Note, it is the kind of raw oats that are pressed into tablets, not instant oats with added sugar and non-dairy creamer. Its beta glucan content is the highest among all cereals. Its ability to control blood sugar and lower blood lipids is well-established by academic circles. My dad has high blood fat and has cooked half a bowl of oats with milk every morning for half a year instead of white porridge. The last time he checked his blood lipids, his blood lipids actually dropped by 0.3mmol/L, which is much more useful than the thousands of health care products he secretly bought. Of course, quinoa is not bad. The complete protein content is much higher than that of rice, and it has a strong feeling of satiety. I used it to replace white rice as a staple food during my previous fat loss period. It did make me hungry slowly, but you have to pay attention to soaking it for 2 hours in advance to wash off the saponins on the surface, otherwise it will cause acid reflux. People with weak stomachs should eat less. I boiled it without soaking it before, and my stomach burned all afternoon after eating it. I really suffered. There are also chia seeds that are highly praised on the Internet. They swell 10 times when exposed to water, which sounds very suitable for losing fat. However, if you swallow them dry, it will easily get stuck in the throat, and the dietary fiber content is too high. People with sensitive stomachs are likely to have diarrhea after eating them. I ate a spoonful of them before, and I ran to the toilet three times in the afternoon. Now I feel uncomfortable thinking about it.

Avocados, which are high-quality fats, are also polarizing. People who like them find them dense and delicate, perfect for spreading on bread, while those who don't like them feel like they are chewing on tasteless soap. Objectively speaking, its unsaturated fatty acid content is higher than that of olive oil, which is good for cardiovascular disease, but its calories are really high. The calories of a normal-sized avocado are almost equal to 3 small bowls of white rice. During the fat loss period, you can eat up to half a day. Don’t listen to what Internet celebrities say about using whole avocados as a meal replacement, which will only make you fatter. There are also flaxseeds, which cost more than ten yuan per pound. They can be ground into powder and added to porridge or steamed buns. The Omega3 content is very high, which is much more cost-effective than buying a bottle of deep-sea fish oil that costs hundreds of yuan. The only thing to note is that it must be ground and eaten. If it is stored for a long time, it will easily oxidize and become bitter, which is not good after eating.

Oh, and there is another thing that is often missed by everyone, which is sugar-free Greek yogurt. The protein content is 3 times that of ordinary yogurt, and the probiotic content is also high. When I was constipated before, drinking a cup of warm milk on an empty stomach in the morning is much more useful than eating enzymes or intestinal cleansing tea. Don’t buy the kind of flavored yogurt with a lot of fruit pieces and syrup. The sugar content is higher than that of cola, and drinking it will make you gain weight.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that many merchants on the Internet are touting maca, moringa seeds, and noni fruits as super foods. In fact, there is currently insufficient clinical evidence in the academic community to prove that they have any special effects. Most of them are concepts created by marketing. They cost hundreds of dollars per pound. There is really no need to pay this IQ tax.

In fact, my original intention of organizing this article was because I saw my cousin who had just started working, spending half of her monthly salary on various imported superfood powders and meal replacement bars. As a result, after half a year of eating, not only did her skin not get better, but she also gained three pounds. It was really unfair. To put it bluntly, there are no "super foods". They are just common ingredients with higher nutritional density. If you stay up late eating milk tea and fried chicken every day, it will be useless even if you eat a basket of kale every day. Eat well, have a balanced diet, and choose what you like to eat, what you can afford, and local and seasonal ingredients. It is better than anything else.