September 21, 2025 • 15 mins
There is a food trend that aims to give you glowing skin, supercharged memory, endless energy, and protection from every disease that you can probably think of. You’ll have seen the word for it stamped on cereal boxes and blended into smoothies, and it’s always talked about by wellness influencers.
What is that magic word? Well, it’s superfood, of course.
But are superfoods really all that super? Short answer: no. But the longer answer is that it affects so many people in negative ways, when there are some very simple other foods we could be eating.
So today, I’m debunking superfoods and sharing what you could be eating instead. Plus:
- The early history of superfoods
- Where the term superfood came from
- How wellness culture impacted the rise of the superfood term
- What a ‘health halo’ is
- Where the best nutrition comes from
- The foods that are actually a bit superfoody but are very common
- How the exotic factor plays into hyping superfoods
- The farmer exploitation aspect of superfoods
- What the real superfood/power is
Thanks for joining me on this episode of Because Why?!
Mā te wā - see you next week.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There's a food trend that aims to give you glowing skin,
supercharged memory, endless energy, and protection from
every disease that you can probably think of.
You'll have seen it stamped on cereal boxes and blended into
smoothies. It's often in those smoothie
bomb things, and it's always talked about by Wellness
influences. What is that magic word?
Well, it's super food, of course.
(00:20):
Welcome back to because why? I'm Brianne West, and my
favorite word is why. Which is why today I am asking
because why do we fall for the myth of magic foods?
Superfoods aren't exactly a new idea.
I mean, banana was probably the first one.
It was advertised as a wartime miracle food.
Now, of course, it's villainizedfor its high sugar content by a
lot of people, but back then it was the gold standard.
(00:42):
Since then, the crown was passedto blueberries, then quinoa,
then acai. Which I still say Akai in my
head and live in fear of saying out loud like that.
But it was anything that might be slightly exotic, and we'll
come back to that, that a clevermarketer could slap a label on.
None of it's regulated, none of it means anything, and none of
it is based on any kind of levelof science.
I do like some of these foods. I eat them quite often.
(01:05):
But it's something to do with this, the fact that it's a super
food. It's the fact that they're
delicious. In fact, some of the best things
for you are considered boring old staples, and they don't have
the word super anywhere near them.
Broccoli is the perfect example.Now, if there's ever a food that
deserved a Cape, it's that one. And it's even better because
it's pretty cheap, it's easy to access, and you can even grow it
like me, she says smugly. The word superfood does not have
(01:29):
any basis in science. It came from marketing during
World War One. the United Fruit Company.
And remember that name because I'm currently researching a big
episode on them because they are, I don't want to say evil,
but the kind of were. But they're certainly one of the
biggest and most controversial fruit companies in the history
of the world. They wanted to convince
(01:49):
Americans to eat more bananas. Why?
Because they owned most of the world's bananas.
And how do they get them? Well, that is subject to the
other episode. Stay tuned.
And they pushed them as the perfect food for soldiers.
They were cheap, calorie dense. They were easy to transport.
I mean, they literally came in their own container full of
sugar for quick energy, potassium for nerves and
muscles. I mean, they're just perfect.
They're a superfood right now. They didn't necessarily use the
(02:12):
word superfood, but that's definitely where the idea
started. And that whole marketing
campaign helped them corner the market and shift bananas from
being an exotic tropical fruit to a breakfast staple.
And the fact that United Fruit Company also had a hand in
topping governments in Central America tells you everything you
need to know about just how goodthey were at that marketing
campaign. But more on that ladder.
(02:32):
For a few decades, the word wasn't really used very much,
but it came back with a bit of aroar in the 1990s and 2000s with
the rise of Wellness culture magazines, morning TV shows,
media in general loved it because it was simple.
It explained so much and yet really didn't explain anything.
Instead of having to break down complicated nutritional
(02:53):
research, marketers, media, journalists, they could just put
a shiny label on one ingredient and call it the next big thing.
Blueberries got the treatment due to antioxidant studies.
Salmon became a darling of everybody when Omega threes were
linked with heart health. Kale went from disgusting foul
vegetable to health icon, but still disgusting and foul once
celebrity chefs started talking it up.
(03:14):
Quinoa, which I totally read in my head is quinoa, which was a
traditional Andean grain, was suddenly repackaged as the
perfect modern health food. And all of these were helped
along on social media, particularly Instagram, which of
course, if you remember used to be that beautiful aesthetic
perfection. SIE bowls, I swear to God, are
only famous because of Instagram.
Does anybody actually like them?They look beautiful.
(03:35):
Fun fact about me, I'm actually a irritatingly fussy eater and
the important thing I really want to stress about this is
none of this was official. There is no scientific or even
legal definition of a superfood.It's not a regulated term.
A company can literally put it on anything and it doesn't have
to prove anything. A little bit like natural or
green or chemical free, right? It means nothing but says
(03:55):
everything to a consumer and that's why it is everywhere.
Even on juices and cereals, which as we know not as great as
we used to think they were. To most people, the words
suggest something as nutrient dense, that a food is absolutely
packed full of some kind of vitamin or a mineral or
antioxidants. But the problem is that without
context, it's largely meaningless.
(04:16):
Like for example, blueberries might be nutrient dense, but
compared to what? How much do you need to eat for
it to matter? One or a whole punnet?
And that's where the idea of a health Halo comes in, right?
So if something is a superfood, people feel like it offsets a
less healthy choice. So if you toss some S IE berries
on ice cream, suddenly that ice cream is actually no longer the
(04:36):
devil. Although I really don't think we
should look at food as good and bad.
But anyways, if you throw some SIE berries on top of ice cream,
it's suddenly a health Sunday. Although I do maintain that ice
cream is a health food in that it makes you feel better and
mental health is health guys. Being a little bit facetious,
but you get the gist, right? If you add chia seeds to a
smoothie, which was full of sugar and chocolate and yogurt
(04:56):
and oil and everything else thatpeople put into a smoothie and
assume it's healthy, it becomes healthy.
Now, scientists do use the idea of nutrient density.
And to be clear, that means how many vitamins, minerals, bio
active compounds, antioxidants you get for the calories that
you eat. So it's just a way of comparing
foods. But even then, it's kind of
oversimplified. So kale is put on a pedestal as
(05:17):
one of the most nutrient dense foods, which is why so many
people struggle through eating aplate of this stuff.
But if you look at it in comparison to the humble potato,
which has been really unfairly villainized, potatoes actually
provide more potassium, more vitamins per gram than kale, and
they're infinitely cheaper and more accessible.
Quinoa is the complete protein, right?
(05:38):
But oats have just as much fiberand more beta glucan.
Nutrition is complicated, and that's why buzzwords like
superfood really aren't helpful.The strongest evidence in
nutrition doesn't come from single ingredients or even
single nutrients. It's dietary patterns.
And I know that's boring. Most nutrition science is
actually boring. People who eat a wide variety of
(06:01):
plants, who get enough fiber, which 95% of Americans don't,
Those who focus on unprocessed foods.
Those are the people who have the lowest risk of heart
disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and even cognitive
decline. Eat your veggies, you'll retain
your memory for longer. That isn't controversial.
Actually, that that's not true, because it is controversial.
Now we have this bizarre surge in myths and disinformation on
(06:24):
things like seed oils and even oats are now Public Enemy #1
despite no evidence of that. And that broader picture is why
the obsession with one hero foodtotally misses the point.
And now to counteract everythingI've just said, there are some
foods that actually science shows might be a little bit more
super foodie than others. I mentioned broccoli at the
beginning because it's accessible and cheap.
(06:45):
Well, it's also super likely to prevent you from getting cancer.
And like, insanely high broccoliis ridiculously good for you.
There are multiple studies that show that the more broccoli you
eat, the lower your likelihood of most types of cancers,
particularly things like breast cancer.
Brocchi contains a few compounds, one in particular
called sulforaphane, and this has been studied extensively.
(07:06):
And there's just screens and screens of evidence that it
protects your cells from DNA damage and it reduces
inflammation, the old Wellness capsule, and it supports your
body's own detoxification pathways.
How? When was the last time you saw a
Wellness guru mention it? It's probably just a matter of
time until it's bloody vilified for some reason or other.
It's shaped like a tree, therefore humans should need it,
because humans don't need trees.I don't know, got to hope I
(07:26):
haven't just started some new Wellness trend.
You don't need athletic greens, you just need to eat a heat of
broccoli every now and then. Then you've got beans and
lentils which are consistently underestimated and in fact RFK
Junior is about to vilify along with vaccines, so that's going
to be a fun conversation. They are one of the most
nutrient dense foods on earth interms of protein and fibre
combined and they are massively linked with better gut health
(07:49):
and very rarely mentioned in theWellness girly world.
There are massive epidemiological studies that
show that people who eat these foods live longer, they have
lower rates of heart disease, they have healthier guts and
therefore they have better mental health.
And again, very accessible. Very low impact on the planet.
Totally underrated from a planetary perspective.
Beans and lentils are like probably the best superfood
(08:10):
there. Mushrooms.
This one kind of sucks because I'm allergic to mushrooms.
Try being a vegetarian who's allergic to mushrooms because
chefs seem totally incapable of creating anything vegetarian
that doesn't have mushrooms or bloody eggplant in anyway.
But mushrooms are another food that people objectively know is
kind of good but they don't get as excited about.
Mushrooms have many, many good points, but one of the things
(08:31):
they contain is ergothionine, which is an antioxidant amino
acid that humans can't make and we don't get insignificant
amounts from more as any other food.
Some researchers have suggested it might be the key to longevity
because it has a role in proteinic cells.
I mean, let's not get too carried away there.
The science doesn't yet show it's a fountain of youth, but
it's interesting. They can also be a source of
vitamin D, but only if they are exposed to sunlight or UV, which
(08:54):
unfortunately a lot of mushroomsyou get to make it aren't.
And that makes mushrooms really unique because that makes them
one of the only non animal dietary sources of vitamin D.
So perhaps there's a reason. Although chefs are just utterly
obsessed with mushrooms, studiesdo link mushroom consumption
with improved immune function and reduced risk of certain
cancers. And again, cheap, versatile,
accessible, what's not to like? Then there's oats.
(09:16):
They have been a beloved health food for years, but more
recently they've fallen out of favour based on a total lack of
scientific evidence. They contain beta glucan, which
is a soluble fibre that's been shown in something like over 100
clinical trials to lower LDL cholesterol, which is the one
that contributes massively to heart disease.
The effect is so consistent thathealth authorities in a lot of
places actually allow companies to make a health claim on our
(09:38):
products, which is not somethingyou see very often.
They're also high in fibre. They support healthy blood sugar
control, which is the opposite of what Wellness Talk is
currently saying. And they're very filling,
ordinary food. Extraordinary evidence.
Apples are another one. They're not exotic, they're not
trendy, but they contain a wide range of ingredients that are
really interesting that reduce oxidative stress and
inflammation. And there's lots of studies that
link apple consumption with heart health with a reduced risk
(10:01):
of cardiovascular disease. So the saying an apple a day
keeps the doctor away might actually be true.
And of course, dark leafy greensin general, consistently linked
with heart health, reduced risk of diabetes, reduced risk of
cancer. Broccoli is the superstar
amongst them. But they are absolutely filled
to the brim with things like folate, vitamin K, calcium, all
sorts of phytonutrients. They're versatile, they're easy
(10:21):
to grow, they're super accessible and totally
underrated. Now not one of those foods I
mentioned makes headlines. Instead you goji berries, SAE,
spirulina, and they are all, youknow, interesting.
They all contain antioxidants. They're fine to eat, but they're
not better than the foods I've just mentioned.
Chia seeds are beloved for fiberand omega-3 content.
Right, but flax seeds have the same nutrients, better evidence,
(10:44):
and they cost less. Coconut oil is pushed as
everything from a bloody metabolism boost to this cure
all fixative, solve the world's problems agent, but evidence is
mixed. And yeah, it seems to behave
quite similarly to other saturated fats in the body.
They're not harmful. There is nothing wrong with
consuming them, but they are overpriced and overhyped
compared to their actual benefits.
(11:05):
So the point is, nutrition is complicated.
There is no such thing as a super food because there is no
such thing as a one side solves all problems.
And do you think it's interesting that most of these
super foods are quote UN quote exotic because these aren't just
a nutritional thing? That this is also a bit of a
cultural story because the foodsthat get hyped in the West are
the ones that feel novel. Goji berries were a common fruit
(11:26):
in parts of China, SAE was a staple in Brazil, Quinoa is a
traditional grain in the Andes. And for centuries there was just
bog standard everyday foods eaten by local communities.
Nobody got really excited about it.
But once Western Wellness culture got hold of them, they
were rebranded as miracle ingredients and sold at insane
prices at places like Erifon, and of course marketed as if
(11:48):
they'd only just been discovered, which is a common
theme. Meanwhile, we ignore the things
we already have that have provento be wonderful, but they just
don't look as glamorous on Instagram.
And it's just a little bit of research that shows you these
marketing cycles. So it was the early 2000s when
there was a couple of studies onblueberries that showed they had
pretty decent levels of antioxidants.
Blueberry sales through the roof.
SAE is particularly interesting because in Brazil it was a cheap
(12:11):
staple. It was eaten daily in the Amazon
region. But by the mid 2000s Western
demand for SAE bowls and supplements had turned it into a
massive export commodity, which you'd think great turns into
money for those farmers. Of course it doesn't.
That's not how it works, is it? Between 2000, 2010, prices
tripled and researchers found that instead of benefiting from
this huge boon, local householdsoften couldn't get hold of the
(12:34):
berries and they didn't receive any financial benefit from all
of those sales. In fact, some places depend on
SAE berries for up to 40% of their calories.
All of a sudden gone. Big deal.
There's a similar story with quinoa.
This one actually made the news.It used to be considered a
quote. Peasant food, not my words.
In places like Peru and Bolivia,and again in between 2006 and
(12:55):
2013, prices, balloons, it was all exported to North America
and Europe. And all of a sudden local
communities who had depended on it for centuries couldn't afford
it. So they started substituting
less nutritious staples like pasta or rice.
Nuts have followed the same contradictory almonds.
Yes, it's an L, not an R Kiwis almonds have been pushed as a
super food for years because of their links with heart health
(13:16):
and as a result, again, demand exploded.
But the problem is we grow them in probably the stupidest places
ever, like California. And almond trees needs a lot of
water. Now of course California is rich
in narcissism and concrete, but it doesn't have a great deal of
water. So almond trees have caused a
huge problem in a drought prone state.
So not only are superfoods not actually super for the eater,
(13:38):
they're also quite often not super for the places that grow
them. And that's where the equity
issue really comes up. Superfoods are sold at
ridiculous markups. That bag of some fancy Berry can
sell for 10 times as much as a bag of apples or carrots,
despite a very minimal difference in nutrition.
These products are marketed as essential to good health and
long life and happiness, and that creates a divide for people
(13:59):
who can't afford them, so that the people who can afford them
feel like they're doing the right thing, and the people who
can't afford them are left out. And it's kind of ironic because
the most accessible, cheapest foods are the ones that are
actually do the best for you, like beans and lentils and oats
and broccoli. They just don't look great in an
Instagram photo. And the word superfood is a
beautiful way of covering all ofthis up.
It makes nutrition sound simple when the reality is messy and
(14:22):
often very unjust. What looks like calm and
Wellness in the Western world might mean food insecurity in
parts of South America. You never see that in the
marketing. There is no such thing as the
miracle food. Nutrition doesn't work that way.
The real superfood, the real superpower, if you like, is
variety. It's overall diet.
(14:43):
Studies show that if you eat 30 plus different types of plants a
week, you're on to a winner. Eat plants, eat fiber.
Build meals around everyday staples that you probably
already have a new cupboard and just discount because you don't
necessarily think they're very good for you.
You might be surprised. Eat more beans.
Eat more broccoli. Eat more oats and apples and
skip the superfoods because theymight make a neat headline, but
(15:05):
there's nothing scientific there.
So because why do we keep falling for this kind of
narrative about the superfood, about the thing we need that
will solve all our problems? Well, because it's that much
more exciting to believe in magic powders and exotic berries
and to accept that sometimes nutrition is boring and that
it's the same answer and that there is no magic bullet.
Everything in moderation. Now next week, I'm going to be
(15:27):
talking about politicians and public relations and what
they're doing on social media and whether they really should
be because I don't know about you, but I'm getting a lot of
second hand embarrassment from some of them.
So Marty Wah, see you next week.
There's a food trend that aims to give you glowing skin,
supercharged memory, endless energy, and protection from
every disease that you can probably think of.
You'll have seen it stamped on cereal boxes and blended into
smoothies. It's often in those smoothie
bomb things, and it's always talked about by Wellness
influences. What is that magic word?
Well, it's super food, of course.
(00:20):
Welcome back to because why? I'm Brianne West, and my
favorite word is why. Which is why today I am asking
because why do we fall for the myth of magic foods?
Superfoods aren't exactly a new idea.
I mean, banana was probably the first one.
It was advertised as a wartime miracle food.
Now, of course, it's villainizedfor its high sugar content by a
lot of people, but back then it was the gold standard.
(00:42):
Since then, the crown was passedto blueberries, then quinoa,
then acai. Which I still say Akai in my
head and live in fear of saying out loud like that.
But it was anything that might be slightly exotic, and we'll
come back to that, that a clevermarketer could slap a label on.
None of it's regulated, none of it means anything, and none of
it is based on any kind of levelof science.
I do like some of these foods. I eat them quite often.
(01:05):
But it's something to do with this, the fact that it's a super
food. It's the fact that they're
delicious. In fact, some of the best things
for you are considered boring old staples, and they don't have
the word super anywhere near them.
Broccoli is the perfect example.Now, if there's ever a food that
deserved a Cape, it's that one. And it's even better because
it's pretty cheap, it's easy to access, and you can even grow it
like me, she says smugly. The word superfood does not have
(01:29):
any basis in science. It came from marketing during
World War One. the United Fruit Company.
And remember that name because I'm currently researching a big
episode on them because they are, I don't want to say evil,
but the kind of were. But they're certainly one of the
biggest and most controversial fruit companies in the history
of the world. They wanted to convince
(01:49):
Americans to eat more bananas. Why?
Because they owned most of the world's bananas.
And how do they get them? Well, that is subject to the
other episode. Stay tuned.
And they pushed them as the perfect food for soldiers.
They were cheap, calorie dense. They were easy to transport.
I mean, they literally came in their own container full of
sugar for quick energy, potassium for nerves and
muscles. I mean, they're just perfect.
They're a superfood right now. They didn't necessarily use the
(02:12):
word superfood, but that's definitely where the idea
started. And that whole marketing
campaign helped them corner the market and shift bananas from
being an exotic tropical fruit to a breakfast staple.
And the fact that United Fruit Company also had a hand in
topping governments in Central America tells you everything you
need to know about just how goodthey were at that marketing
campaign. But more on that ladder.
(02:32):
For a few decades, the word wasn't really used very much,
but it came back with a bit of aroar in the 1990s and 2000s with
the rise of Wellness culture magazines, morning TV shows,
media in general loved it because it was simple.
It explained so much and yet really didn't explain anything.
Instead of having to break down complicated nutritional
(02:53):
research, marketers, media, journalists, they could just put
a shiny label on one ingredient and call it the next big thing.
Blueberries got the treatment due to antioxidant studies.
Salmon became a darling of everybody when Omega threes were
linked with heart health. Kale went from disgusting foul
vegetable to health icon, but still disgusting and foul once
celebrity chefs started talking it up.
(03:14):
Quinoa, which I totally read in my head is quinoa, which was a
traditional Andean grain, was suddenly repackaged as the
perfect modern health food. And all of these were helped
along on social media, particularly Instagram, which of
course, if you remember used to be that beautiful aesthetic
perfection. SIE bowls, I swear to God, are
only famous because of Instagram.
Does anybody actually like them?They look beautiful.
(03:35):
Fun fact about me, I'm actually a irritatingly fussy eater and
the important thing I really want to stress about this is
none of this was official. There is no scientific or even
legal definition of a superfood.It's not a regulated term.
A company can literally put it on anything and it doesn't have
to prove anything. A little bit like natural or
green or chemical free, right? It means nothing but says
(03:55):
everything to a consumer and that's why it is everywhere.
Even on juices and cereals, which as we know not as great as
we used to think they were. To most people, the words
suggest something as nutrient dense, that a food is absolutely
packed full of some kind of vitamin or a mineral or
antioxidants. But the problem is that without
context, it's largely meaningless.
(04:16):
Like for example, blueberries might be nutrient dense, but
compared to what? How much do you need to eat for
it to matter? One or a whole punnet?
And that's where the idea of a health Halo comes in, right?
So if something is a superfood, people feel like it offsets a
less healthy choice. So if you toss some S IE berries
on ice cream, suddenly that ice cream is actually no longer the
(04:36):
devil. Although I really don't think we
should look at food as good and bad.
But anyways, if you throw some SIE berries on top of ice cream,
it's suddenly a health Sunday. Although I do maintain that ice
cream is a health food in that it makes you feel better and
mental health is health guys. Being a little bit facetious,
but you get the gist, right? If you add chia seeds to a
smoothie, which was full of sugar and chocolate and yogurt
(04:56):
and oil and everything else thatpeople put into a smoothie and
assume it's healthy, it becomes healthy.
Now, scientists do use the idea of nutrient density.
And to be clear, that means how many vitamins, minerals, bio
active compounds, antioxidants you get for the calories that
you eat. So it's just a way of comparing
foods. But even then, it's kind of
oversimplified. So kale is put on a pedestal as
(05:17):
one of the most nutrient dense foods, which is why so many
people struggle through eating aplate of this stuff.
But if you look at it in comparison to the humble potato,
which has been really unfairly villainized, potatoes actually
provide more potassium, more vitamins per gram than kale, and
they're infinitely cheaper and more accessible.
Quinoa is the complete protein, right?
(05:38):
But oats have just as much fiberand more beta glucan.
Nutrition is complicated, and that's why buzzwords like
superfood really aren't helpful.The strongest evidence in
nutrition doesn't come from single ingredients or even
single nutrients. It's dietary patterns.
And I know that's boring. Most nutrition science is
actually boring. People who eat a wide variety of
(06:01):
plants, who get enough fiber, which 95% of Americans don't,
Those who focus on unprocessed foods.
Those are the people who have the lowest risk of heart
disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and even cognitive
decline. Eat your veggies, you'll retain
your memory for longer. That isn't controversial.
Actually, that that's not true, because it is controversial.
Now we have this bizarre surge in myths and disinformation on
(06:24):
things like seed oils and even oats are now Public Enemy #1
despite no evidence of that. And that broader picture is why
the obsession with one hero foodtotally misses the point.
And now to counteract everythingI've just said, there are some
foods that actually science shows might be a little bit more
super foodie than others. I mentioned broccoli at the
beginning because it's accessible and cheap.
(06:45):
Well, it's also super likely to prevent you from getting cancer.
And like, insanely high broccoliis ridiculously good for you.
There are multiple studies that show that the more broccoli you
eat, the lower your likelihood of most types of cancers,
particularly things like breast cancer.
Brocchi contains a few compounds, one in particular
called sulforaphane, and this has been studied extensively.
(07:06):
And there's just screens and screens of evidence that it
protects your cells from DNA damage and it reduces
inflammation, the old Wellness capsule, and it supports your
body's own detoxification pathways.
How? When was the last time you saw a
Wellness guru mention it? It's probably just a matter of
time until it's bloody vilified for some reason or other.
It's shaped like a tree, therefore humans should need it,
because humans don't need trees.I don't know, got to hope I
(07:26):
haven't just started some new Wellness trend.
You don't need athletic greens, you just need to eat a heat of
broccoli every now and then. Then you've got beans and
lentils which are consistently underestimated and in fact RFK
Junior is about to vilify along with vaccines, so that's going
to be a fun conversation. They are one of the most
nutrient dense foods on earth interms of protein and fibre
combined and they are massively linked with better gut health
(07:49):
and very rarely mentioned in theWellness girly world.
There are massive epidemiological studies that
show that people who eat these foods live longer, they have
lower rates of heart disease, they have healthier guts and
therefore they have better mental health.
And again, very accessible. Very low impact on the planet.
Totally underrated from a planetary perspective.
Beans and lentils are like probably the best superfood
(08:10):
there. Mushrooms.
This one kind of sucks because I'm allergic to mushrooms.
Try being a vegetarian who's allergic to mushrooms because
chefs seem totally incapable of creating anything vegetarian
that doesn't have mushrooms or bloody eggplant in anyway.
But mushrooms are another food that people objectively know is
kind of good but they don't get as excited about.
Mushrooms have many, many good points, but one of the things
(08:31):
they contain is ergothionine, which is an antioxidant amino
acid that humans can't make and we don't get insignificant
amounts from more as any other food.
Some researchers have suggested it might be the key to longevity
because it has a role in proteinic cells.
I mean, let's not get too carried away there.
The science doesn't yet show it's a fountain of youth, but
it's interesting. They can also be a source of
vitamin D, but only if they are exposed to sunlight or UV, which
(08:54):
unfortunately a lot of mushroomsyou get to make it aren't.
And that makes mushrooms really unique because that makes them
one of the only non animal dietary sources of vitamin D.
So perhaps there's a reason. Although chefs are just utterly
obsessed with mushrooms, studiesdo link mushroom consumption
with improved immune function and reduced risk of certain
cancers. And again, cheap, versatile,
accessible, what's not to like? Then there's oats.
(09:16):
They have been a beloved health food for years, but more
recently they've fallen out of favour based on a total lack of
scientific evidence. They contain beta glucan, which
is a soluble fibre that's been shown in something like over 100
clinical trials to lower LDL cholesterol, which is the one
that contributes massively to heart disease.
The effect is so consistent thathealth authorities in a lot of
places actually allow companies to make a health claim on our
(09:38):
products, which is not somethingyou see very often.
They're also high in fibre. They support healthy blood sugar
control, which is the opposite of what Wellness Talk is
currently saying. And they're very filling,
ordinary food. Extraordinary evidence.
Apples are another one. They're not exotic, they're not
trendy, but they contain a wide range of ingredients that are
really interesting that reduce oxidative stress and
inflammation. And there's lots of studies that
link apple consumption with heart health with a reduced risk
(10:01):
of cardiovascular disease. So the saying an apple a day
keeps the doctor away might actually be true.
And of course, dark leafy greensin general, consistently linked
with heart health, reduced risk of diabetes, reduced risk of
cancer. Broccoli is the superstar
amongst them. But they are absolutely filled
to the brim with things like folate, vitamin K, calcium, all
sorts of phytonutrients. They're versatile, they're easy
(10:21):
to grow, they're super accessible and totally
underrated. Now not one of those foods I
mentioned makes headlines. Instead you goji berries, SAE,
spirulina, and they are all, youknow, interesting.
They all contain antioxidants. They're fine to eat, but they're
not better than the foods I've just mentioned.
Chia seeds are beloved for fiberand omega-3 content.
Right, but flax seeds have the same nutrients, better evidence,
(10:44):
and they cost less. Coconut oil is pushed as
everything from a bloody metabolism boost to this cure
all fixative, solve the world's problems agent, but evidence is
mixed. And yeah, it seems to behave
quite similarly to other saturated fats in the body.
They're not harmful. There is nothing wrong with
consuming them, but they are overpriced and overhyped
compared to their actual benefits.
(11:05):
So the point is, nutrition is complicated.
There is no such thing as a super food because there is no
such thing as a one side solves all problems.
And do you think it's interesting that most of these
super foods are quote UN quote exotic because these aren't just
a nutritional thing? That this is also a bit of a
cultural story because the foodsthat get hyped in the West are
the ones that feel novel. Goji berries were a common fruit
(11:26):
in parts of China, SAE was a staple in Brazil, Quinoa is a
traditional grain in the Andes. And for centuries there was just
bog standard everyday foods eaten by local communities.
Nobody got really excited about it.
But once Western Wellness culture got hold of them, they
were rebranded as miracle ingredients and sold at insane
prices at places like Erifon, and of course marketed as if
(11:48):
they'd only just been discovered, which is a common
theme. Meanwhile, we ignore the things
we already have that have provento be wonderful, but they just
don't look as glamorous on Instagram.
And it's just a little bit of research that shows you these
marketing cycles. So it was the early 2000s when
there was a couple of studies onblueberries that showed they had
pretty decent levels of antioxidants.
Blueberry sales through the roof.
SAE is particularly interesting because in Brazil it was a cheap
(12:11):
staple. It was eaten daily in the Amazon
region. But by the mid 2000s Western
demand for SAE bowls and supplements had turned it into a
massive export commodity, which you'd think great turns into
money for those farmers. Of course it doesn't.
That's not how it works, is it? Between 2000, 2010, prices
tripled and researchers found that instead of benefiting from
this huge boon, local householdsoften couldn't get hold of the
(12:34):
berries and they didn't receive any financial benefit from all
of those sales. In fact, some places depend on
SAE berries for up to 40% of their calories.
All of a sudden gone. Big deal.
There's a similar story with quinoa.
This one actually made the news.It used to be considered a
quote. Peasant food, not my words.
In places like Peru and Bolivia,and again in between 2006 and
(12:55):
2013, prices, balloons, it was all exported to North America
and Europe. And all of a sudden local
communities who had depended on it for centuries couldn't afford
it. So they started substituting
less nutritious staples like pasta or rice.
Nuts have followed the same contradictory almonds.
Yes, it's an L, not an R Kiwis almonds have been pushed as a
super food for years because of their links with heart health
(13:16):
and as a result, again, demand exploded.
But the problem is we grow them in probably the stupidest places
ever, like California. And almond trees needs a lot of
water. Now of course California is rich
in narcissism and concrete, but it doesn't have a great deal of
water. So almond trees have caused a
huge problem in a drought prone state.
So not only are superfoods not actually super for the eater,
(13:38):
they're also quite often not super for the places that grow
them. And that's where the equity
issue really comes up. Superfoods are sold at
ridiculous markups. That bag of some fancy Berry can
sell for 10 times as much as a bag of apples or carrots,
despite a very minimal difference in nutrition.
These products are marketed as essential to good health and
long life and happiness, and that creates a divide for people
(13:59):
who can't afford them, so that the people who can afford them
feel like they're doing the right thing, and the people who
can't afford them are left out. And it's kind of ironic because
the most accessible, cheapest foods are the ones that are
actually do the best for you, like beans and lentils and oats
and broccoli. They just don't look great in an
Instagram photo. And the word superfood is a
beautiful way of covering all ofthis up.
It makes nutrition sound simple when the reality is messy and
(14:22):
often very unjust. What looks like calm and
Wellness in the Western world might mean food insecurity in
parts of South America. You never see that in the
marketing. There is no such thing as the
miracle food. Nutrition doesn't work that way.
The real superfood, the real superpower, if you like, is
variety. It's overall diet.
(14:43):
Studies show that if you eat 30 plus different types of plants a
week, you're on to a winner. Eat plants, eat fiber.
Build meals around everyday staples that you probably
already have a new cupboard and just discount because you don't
necessarily think they're very good for you.
You might be surprised. Eat more beans.
Eat more broccoli. Eat more oats and apples and
skip the superfoods because theymight make a neat headline, but
(15:05):
there's nothing scientific there.
So because why do we keep falling for this kind of
narrative about the superfood, about the thing we need that
will solve all our problems? Well, because it's that much
more exciting to believe in magic powders and exotic berries
and to accept that sometimes nutrition is boring and that
it's the same answer and that there is no magic bullet.
Everything in moderation. Now next week, I'm going to be
(15:27):
talking about politicians and public relations and what
they're doing on social media and whether they really should
be because I don't know about you, but I'm getting a lot of
second hand embarrassment from some of them.
So Marty Wah, see you next week.
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