Do Superfoods exist? 5 Jun

The term “superfood” has become a favourite in the health and fitness community; with many people buying products that state they are a superfood and can help you survive almost anything.

Superfoods are thought to be filled with all these nutrients that are just too good to say no to! But in reality, superfoods don’t even exist.

Wait, what do you mean?!

The overly marketed term has become so common that people don’t even bat an eyelid at anything labelled ‘superfood’. The advertising has been so well done that consumers automatically think what they are eating is incredible for them.

Consumers expect to be healed from any disease when drinking or eating these superfoods; in a 2014 survey, 61% of people in Britain were buying food labelled ‘superfood’. (link) Society has become obsessed with health and wellbeing, which to some extent is a very good thing. However, companies are now playing on this and how they can reach a higher profit with the word ‘superfood’.

Companies playing on the interest of ‘superfoods’ also process what they are selling to include more sugar and less of the food that is supposed to be giving you the vitamins you need. Therefore, not only are you paying a lot of money for food that doesn’t exist, but you are paying for sugar that is replacing the food.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a superfood as being ‘a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being’. And the EU legislation is that anything labelled ‘superfood’ has to have an authorised health claim to back this up.

Blueberries are an example of what some companies would market as a superfood, however there is no evidence saying that blueberries will give you more vitamin C than any other berry such as strawberries, raspberries and so many more!

Likewise, spinach is said to help grow your muscles; but just eating spinach won’t grow your muscles you have to put the work in and work towards goals without relying on something that says it is a superfood. It won’t create miracles and you have to work hard for goals you want to reach. A single food can’t make you miraculously healthy, like spinach can’t produce muscles.

So many healthy foods contain antioxidants that can help prevent certain illnesses, however this is hard to monitor and so the results are hard to fully prove. But what can help you lead a healthier lifestyle is by eating a varied, healthy diet and exercising regularly.

It may be boring, but it is the way forward: keeping a structured diet can help you live a healthy lifestyle and provide you with so many benefits. Long-term benefits of living a healthy lifestyle are; reducing the risk of certain diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and more. Short term, you’ll feel better in yourself, you can start to maintain a healthy weight and you’ll have more energy.

There are many free routes for you to go down to start a healthier diet and begin to enjoy eating a balanced diet. Cheshire Change Hub have amazing material and programmes that can help with exercising and losing weight safely. At Brio we have Focus Move Evolve, which is free and available for you to start a fitness plan which can help towards your start to a healthier lifestyle.

Brio Bites, our amazing cafés on site, are packed with healthy and balanced meals that can help you get right on track. Grab a meal with friends after a workout or swim!

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