Superfoods
| Deliciously edible! |
| Dubious diets |
| Food woo |
Super food lists are popular Yahoo-type "click here, gotcha" news. These are lists of foods that fall somewhere on the spectrum between "real science" and woo. Since none of them are dangerous (unless 3rd-world globalization has compromised[1] their authenticity or purity,) and since all of them can be tasty, adding them to your diet can't hurt your body. If they turn out more "woo" than "science", no medical harm done. And if they turn out to be really extra-special healthy for you, all the better.
Of course, these have a mysterious tendancy toward the exotic, obscure, or highly perishable in comparison to equally nourishing and pleasant foodstuffs of lesser celebrity, which means they're usually only available at great expense and/or from a tiny number of merchants… Who are all too happy to let you pay through the nose for this “privilage.”
- Açaí berries. Marketed as a dietary supplement for weight loss but with no convincing evidence. Subject of many internet scams.[2]
- Apples. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, or so they say.[3] The seeds contain a small amount of laetrile for those who believe in cancer preventative woo (and cyanide for those who don't.) The apples themselves are full of fiber and keep you "regular".
- Apple cider vinegar, this acid is used by people to treat "body pH imbalance" because the body becomes too acidic. Yes, they actually believe that taking vinegar will increase the body pH level, rather than lower it like any normal acid would.
- Blueberries and blackberries - make boring yogurt tolerable and they anti-oxidize you[4][5] at the same time, for whatever that's worth.
- Brewers yeast, and its derivatives like Vegemite and Marmite, are a B-complex vitamin cocktail[citation needed]. Good for whatever you heard B vitamins are good for. Brain food and who knows what else.
- Cinnamon can help reduce blood sugar peaks. Or not.[6] It makes lots of things more yummy, and if it helps to prevent the onset of diet-based diabetes so much the better.
- Cranberries - Commonly hailed as an effective way to avoid urinary tract infections. According to a recent clinical review however, you'd have to eat about 45,000 calories' worth of cranberries every six months to get a 1 in 12 chance of avoiding an infection.[7] Not exactly practical, unlike the 95% efficacy of taking antibiotics.
- Chocolate Theobroma - food of the gods. In its raw form Cacao (usually in the form of 'nibs') and processed dark chocolate are excellent anti-oxidants. There is some suggestion that they can act like aspirin to keep plaque forming in the blood, that they might stimulate the brain, and that sucking on dark chocolate can soothe an aching throat, raw from coughing. And it's so close to that wonderful panacea hemp! And come on, it's *chocolate*. (Dear Americans, milk chocolate however has lots of sugar and very little cacao, so it isn't a wonder food - learn to like the dark stuff!)
- Curry, turmeric in particular, is supposed to be a preventative for cancer and Alzheimer's.[more detail please]
- Ginger - can actually combat motion sickness and nausea (Ginger Ale, anyone?), and is great for "that time of the month".[more detail please]
- Goji berries or Chinese wolfberries. Supposedly full of nutrients and anti-oxidants.[more detail please]
- Green tea - It's a ritual designed to make you relax, and it too can anti-oxidize you[8].
- Kombucha tea. Anti-oxidant and probiotic all at the same time[citation needed].
- Oysters are supposed to increase your sperm count, improve libido, enlarge your weenie, etc.[more detail please]
- Pomegranate juice. You know it's heart-healthy because they sell it with cute little healthy-heart icons on the bottles. [more detail please]
- Shiitake mushrooms. You can just taste the tingle of anti-oxidant woo cleansing your body of toxins![more detail please]
- Walnuts - lots of fiber and protein, and it turns out they might help lower the icky bad cholesterols[citation needed].
[edit] Some lists with other wooish/scientific-ish super foods
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.naturalnews.com/040266_food_fraud_China_heavy_metals_contamination.html
- ↑ Oprah is coming after bad Internet marketers
- ↑ This saying originated during Prohibition. Most of the apples sold prior to Prohibition were used to make hard cider. When this was no longer legal, apple growers had to come up with another reason for consumers to buy their fruit, and latched on to the apple's alleged health benefits.
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry#Nutrients.2C_phytochemicals_and_research
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackberry#Nutrients_and_antioxidant_qualities
- ↑ "Cinnamon and Blood Sugar," Pennsylvania State University Extension
- ↑ Cranberry, the alt-med zombie
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea#Growing.2C_harvesting_and_processing