Are superfoods charging a super IQ tax?

Whether superfoods charge a super IQ tax really cannot be ruled out at once - neither can we take all the "magic effects" touted by merchants as a waste of money, nor do we need to directly classify all ingredients with this label as scammers.

A few years ago, I saw the promotion of acai berry powder. The merchant boasted that "the antioxidant capacity is 10 times that of blueberries." A small jar cost more than 200 yuan and was still sold out. At that time, I curiously checked the public data of several domestic food testing agencies. In fact, the anthocyanin content of acai berry is not much different from that of purple grapes and mulberries that we often eat, and is even worse than dried black wolfberry. All the extra money spent is paid for import tariffs and Internet celebrity promotion fees. There is also the freeze-dried kale that was very popular some time ago. It only costs more than 30 yuan for a box of 10 small bags, which works out to several hundred yuan per pound. It is essentially a green leafy vegetable with a higher dietary fiber. You can buy a lot of fresh kale at the vegetable market for 5 or 6 yuan, and it is the same for stir-frying and making milkshakes. If the merchant insists on adding a gimmick of "cleaning the intestines, detoxifying, and preventing cancer," then what you pay is not the money to buy vegetables, but a real IQ tax.

But having said that, there are also many ingredients classified as "super foods" that do have nutritional advantages that ordinary ingredients cannot match. A while ago, I was helping my cousin with gluten allergy find a suitable staple food. I checked the public nutrition data of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. I found that quinoa is a rare whole grain complete protein. The amino acid ratio almost completely matches the needs of the human body. The protein content is more than twice that of rice. I am allergic to gluten. It is safe for people to eat, and fitness people use it as a staple food instead of polished rice and white flour. It makes people feel full and can also supplement protein. As long as it is not the kind of imported "organic quinoa" that is fried for tens of dollars per catty, and ordinary domestic quinoa costs more than ten dollars per catty, it really does not count as an IQ tax. There is also commonly eaten salmon. The content of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is much higher than that of ordinary freshwater fish. If there are elderly people at home, eat it twice a week. It is indeed good for lowering blood lipids and protecting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. As long as you don’t believe the nonsense that “eating salmon can resist aging”, you will be fine if you buy it as needed.

When I first started working out two years ago, I also fell into a trap. I followed the trend and bought imported chia seeds priced at 128 yuan per pound. They were advertised as "one spoonful is worth three bowls of rice" and "you can lose five pounds in a week." Later, I accidentally bought domestically produced chia seeds that cost 15 yuan per pound and tasted them. , the viscosity is almost exactly the same, and after checking the third-party test report, the difference in dietary fiber and Omega-3 content between the two is less than 4%. The extra 100 yuan spent is all for the "imported" and "influencer recommended" labels. But I am prone to urinary tract infections all year round, and the doctor also recommends supplementing more type A proanthocyanidins. The freeze-dried cranberries without additives that I often buy now cost more than one yuan a day, which is indeed more cost-effective than the cranberry health supplements that cost dozens of yuan. It can also reduce the frequency of recurrence. I think it is money well spent.

To put it bluntly, "super food" is a concept created by the European and American marketing circles. It is not an official classification in the nutrition field at all, and there is no unified criterion for judging "super". When choosing, don’t be dazzled by those fancy slogans. First look at the nutrition facts table and compare it with common ingredients of the same type. If the premium is too high and it claims to cure all diseases, it’s probably due to the IQ tax. If you really want to pursue a healthy diet, it is better to eat two or three different fruits, vegetables, and whole grains every day. A balanced nutrition is much more effective than focusing on a certain "superfood".