Generally, foods (and sometimes drinks) are considered “superfoods” when they have a high concentration of important nutrients, are linked to disease prevention or are believed to have additional benefits for health and well-being compared with other foods. [1]
For example, mushrooms could be considered a superfood given their high density of vitamin A, potassium, fibre and antioxidants. Or you could class ginger root as a superfood, since it contains high levels of antioxidants which are thought to help manage nausea, reduce pain and decrease the risk of chronic illnesses such as heart disease and dementia. [2]
But as the term has become more commonly used in the modern world, we’ve seen rising concerns that calling something a “superfood” is just a marketing technique and no longer a sign of genuine nutritional value, or the ability of a food to boost our health. So does the term hold any value anymore, or is it just an empty name?
The first food branded a “superfood” may have been bananas at the turn of the 20th Century as part of a marketing strategy by The United Fruit Company.
The company had recently increased its capacity to grow and import bananas and needed a strategy to boost sales Marketeers seized on scientific research which noted the health benefits of bananas and branded the fruit as a superfood. [3]
United Fruit published several informational leaflets – including those titled Food Value of the Banana and Points about Bananas – to persuade the American public that bananas should be part of the daily diet. Bananas, they suggested, should even be fried with meat for dinner or chopped up in salads for lunch [4].
In the following century more and more foods have been labelled as superfoods – avocado, garlic, blueberries, broccoli, chia seeds, dark leafy greens, to name a few. Today, however, the term superfood is more often attributed to new and exotic food trends hitting the market – such as goji berries, açaí berries or cockroach milk [5].
All foods contain different amounts of different key nutrients. For example, citrus fruits are high in vitamin C while mangoes are rich in vitamin E. So is there a valid argument that foods that are exceptionally rich in specific nutrients are more “super” than others that can’t provide as much of these nutrients?
According to Registered Associate Nutritionist (AfN) Hannah Whiteley, it is true that some foods do contain naturally higher quantities of nutrients than others – but “sometimes we get carried away wanting to believe that superfoods exist”, and the term can be really misleading.
For example, seaweed is one of only a very few plant-based foods that is naturally rich in B12, making it an important part of a vegan diet for those who do not want to take supplements.
In a sense, therefore, seaweed can be called a superfood – but the health benefits would be felt most strongly by a specific set of people – vegans who aren’t or don’t want to be taking B12 supplement pills.
And take blueberries, often found near the top of superfood lists online because they are rich in vitamins and fibre, as well as bioactive phytochemicals (the chemical compounds that give blueberries their blue colour, which are also beneficial for human health when eaten).
But, Hannah explained, these same nutrients can also be found in other berries in our diets, such as strawberries and cranberries, which convey just as many health benefits as blueberries. So why give blueberries such special status?
“If you eat a varied diet, regardless of whether you’re eating apples and pears or goji berries and dragon fruit, you are going to get really similar nutrient profiles,” Hannah said. So “superfoods” such as blueberries and seaweed are really good for us – but if we’re already eating a balanced and varied diet, we shouldn’t expect adding them into our diet to dramatically improve our health.
When we think of a superfood, we imagine a powerful crop with special health-promoting abilities – such as weight loss or preventing or curing a disease. But the biggest problem with superfoods is the lack of a clear definition about which foods are better for us than others, which often leads to superfood trends that are not based on any meaningful evidence or science.
In 2007, the European Commission started to tackle this issue by banning products claiming to be “superfoods” unless the label was accompanied by an authorised health claim that explains to consumers why the product is good for their health [6]. The UK then followed suit, with the NHS warning that descriptions of products as “superfoods” are often inaccurate.
But what about foods that are specifically designed to be rich in very rare vitamins, nutrients or compounds. Would so-called “biofortified” foods be better candidates for finding true superfoods?
Biofortified foods are variants of fruits and vegetables that have been specifically bred by farmers and scientists to increase the level of certain key nutrients above what they would naturally contain.
These foods are closer to being true “superfoods” because they intentionally contain more nutrients than other versions of the same foods that have not been fortified. Scientists also specifically focus on fortifying foods with nutrients that people aren’t getting enough of, meaning biofortified foods can play a more meaningful role in addressing the nutrient deficiencies of our diets.
For example, rice in Thailand was fortified with vitamin A (which is good for eyesight) in a bid to tackle deficiencies among children [6]. A study found that this so-called ‘golden rice’ helped to reduce vitamin A deficiency in school-aged children in Thailand, helping to fight childhood blindness and boost their immune systems.
Golden rice could, therefore, be truly termed a superfood in Asia, given how big a positive health impact it can and has had. In fact, some organisations now recommend golden rice as a way of supporting the health and eyesight of children across Asia, since so many children are still vitamin A deficient and it’s a far cheaper and easier option than giving out vitamin A supplements.
Given their power to support health, biofortified superfoods are becoming more and more common. For example, the UK government is planning to fortify all white flour (and therefore all bread and pasta made in the UK) with folic acid, which doctors say would help prevent babies from being born with lifelong disabilities. [7]
Through more than 20 years of selective breeding, we’ve fortified our unique broccoli variant that delivers 5x more of a key health-boosting compound than you’d find in a normal supermarket broccoli.
Crucially, the compound in question (sulforaphane) is one that’s rare in nature, and really difficult to get through your diet. So no matter how well we’re eating, it’s likely our bodies are getting less of this powerful nutrient than they’d like.
GRextra was specifically created by scientists to help us address a lack of glucoraphanin in our diets, and eating more of it can bring a range of health benefits – making our super-broccoli a true superfood.
The bottom line is that some foods truly are “superfoods” – but we should set the bar much higher. True superfoods tackle a real deficiency in a specific nutrient or set of nutrients, which is how they are able to have a positive impact on our health.
So golden rice is a superfood for vitamin A deficient children in Asia, and seaweed is a superfood for people who are vitamin B12 deficient – which is common in vegans.
But we should be wary of açaí berries and cockroach milk – trending superfoods like these are often hyped up as a marketing strategy rather than offering true benefits to your health. This doesn’t mean they aren’t nutritious – but you could probably get the same outcome from just eating a varied and balanced diet.
“At the end of the day, we don’t eat nutrients, we eat food, so it’s important to look at your diet as a whole,” Hannah said. “A single food is never a substitute for a balanced diet.”
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