What is a Superfood?

What comes to mind when you hear the word Superfood? Do you think of the Odwalla green drink? It's yummy by the way.  How about a picture of an avocado wearing a superman cape? I have to admit, that's my visual. There is a lot of talk and mention of superfoods in health magazines, newsletters, headlines, etc.  But what exactly is a superfood? 

According to Wikipedia, Superfood is a term used in various contexts. For example, it is sometimes used to describe food with high nutrient or phytochemical content that may confer health benefits, with few properties considered to be negative, such as being high in saturated fats or artificial ingredients, food additives or contaminants. 

Crystal clear right? Not really, so let's try working backwards to create our own definition of a superfood.  Here are a few lists of superfoods that are for general populations, although you can search more specifically such as kids, women, men, seniors, and even different cultures. 

• Lowfat or fat-free plain yogurt, eggs, nuts, kiwis, quinoa, beans, salmon, broccoli, sweet potatoes and berries from WebMd
• Apples, baked beans, broccoli, olive oil, wholegrain seeded bread, salmon, tea, yogurt, bananas, and brazil nuts from DailyMail
• Blueberries, sardines, spinach, pistachio, dark chocolate, red bell peppers, beans, egg whites, oats, and pumpkin from Joy Bauer
• Acai, allium family, barley, beans and lentils, buckwheat, green foods, hot peppers, nuts and seeds, sprouts, and yogurt and kefir from one of Oprah's doctors, Dr. Perricone 

Interesting that only three - broccoli, beans, salmon - are on multiple lists.  And several are very similar but not quite the same food, such as pistachios vs. nuts, yogurt vs. low fat or fat free yogurt, eggs vs. egg whites, and red bell peppers vs. hot peppers.  

Dinner last night... Superfood Salad
Spinach & Kale Salad w/ Cranberries, Walnuts, Apples 

So listing examples of superfoods makes it clear as mud for me, how about you? Let's focus on the commonalities of the above mentioned superfoods and maybe that will help with a more precise definition.  

• Nature-made - 37 of the 40 superfoods above, 93%, are directly from nature with the exceptions of yogurt, kefir and dark chocolate.  But we can break down these foods to find the benefits.  Dark chocolate, for example, is typically made of cacao beans, sugar, soy lecithin(preservative) and flavorings.  The benefits such as improves mood, brain function, and helps with PMS come directly from the cacao beans. If they listed cacao beans as a superfood, our nature-made super foods would increase to 95%. 
• Powerhouse of Nutrition - All of the foods above hold up to the fact that with one bite, you are receiving a pretty mean nutrition punch.  For example, blueberries are hydrating, help preserve memory and antioxidants.  Also kiwis have Vitamins A, C, E, fiber and potassium.  
• Low in calories, unless High in unsaturated fats - All of the items are low in calories, with a few exceptions - nuts, sardines and salmon. These are higher in calories because they are high in polyunsaturated fat, Omega 3's. Omega 3's are the essential fatty acids your body needs for brain function, to reduce inflammation and more. 

With all the information we gathered, even working backwards, we now have our own definition...

A superfood is a food that comes directly from nature with multiple nutritional benefits.  They are typically low in calories, unless they are high in unsaturated fats which will increase caloric intake while also increasing essential fatty acids. 

This definition will hopefully help you sift through the numerous articles offering the latest and greatest superfoods to be added to the previous 300 or more already listed.  More importantly, it will help you when you are at the grocery store to critically think about the items that you are purchasing for you and your family.  And most importantly, I think avocados, with the cape of course, meet the criteria and will be added to my superfood list.