It’s no mystery why some of us feel fall and winter deserve to be rebranded simply as superfood season.
Fear of colds, flu, seasonal affective disorder and winter weight gain triggers many of us to rush out and stock up on everything from mangosteen and chia seeds to goji berries and high-priced potions and pills.
But would an apple, carrot or bowl of kale do? Most likely, says superfood super sleuth Jennifer Sygo.
In a clever and no-nonsense attempt to bring the point home, the registered dietitian and author of Unmasking Superfood offers a cost-comparison chart on page 8 of her book: A bottle of acai supplement — $40. A week’s worth of produce to feed a family of four — $48.50.
The chart can help snap us out of the impulse to find a quick cure-all and re-direct the tendency some of us have to gleefully gulp whatever savvy food marketers feed us.
On World Food Day, it seems fitting that we get a little clarity about our food choices. Here, Sygo discusses what’s real and what’s wrong about the hype behind superfoods.
Why another book on superfoods?
Sygo: I think the big difference here is that instead of it being a hyp- machine book, this is meant to be a critical look at the superfoods movement. And in many ways, looks at a lot of the themes in nutrition today, including this sort of glorified all-or-nothing impression that one has to be a perfect eater or some foods are absolutely magical in their effect. In reality, it’s much more murky than that.
This is an attempt to look at superfoods and say, ‘What is the evidence for all this stuff that we are hearing about in terms of hype?’ Is there anything behind it and where should we probably be relaxing some of this hype and going back to basics a little bit more.
Unmasking Superfoods is not a hype machine book, says author Jennifer Sygo. It’s meant to be a critical look at the superfoods movement. Photo: HarperCollins
Where do you stand on the debate about whether or not there is such a thing as a ‘superfood?’
I actually don’t like the term ‘superfoods,’ ironically enough. Right in the introduction of the book, I admit it’s a term that makes me uncomfortable because I feel it elevates one food over another.
And very often we find that once we’ve dug a little deeper, foods that maybe didn’t seem to have quote unquote superfood value, actually do, and other foods that seem so amazing on paper are actually kind of average.
Case in point right now is the chia seed, which looks really good on paper, but in a couple of studies that have been done so far in people, it shows really no effects or benefits at all. So we’re all running out and eating it, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily that phenomenal.
And meanwhile there are lots of common foods that are readily available to us like strawberries and carrots that we eat every day that are fantastic. So yeah, I have some discomfort with that term.
And of course, some of these ‘superfoods’ are really expensive.
Right, so that’s another huge factor, and that’s why this book is a bit of a fresh take on things. In the book I give a comparison chart of one week’s worth of groceries per family compared with buying a bottle of acai.
And really that highlights the fact that we’re extracting foods from far-off places, transporting them and processing them, it all requires energy, it costs the environment, it costs a lot of money. And again, we really have no basis for thinking that they’re going to do us any good. So I think we’ve gotten a little ahead of ourselves.
Yes, that chart was a rude awakening….
Yeah, we love a silver bullet, don’t we? That one thing that will cure everything and make us feel amazing. If you look at it that way and you think ‘geez, if I ate all of the foods that are on that list in a week, I’d probably feel pretty good too. And I’d probably feel a heck of a lot better than drinking some bottle of juice of some unknown substance.’
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about superfoods?
It’s a lot of things. It’s the idea that they will get everything they need from one food. One of the things that really stood out for me is that meat has a really bad name right now and I use ‘meat’ broadly to include any animal protein.
We’re really heavily fixated on plant sources of food and for good reason; environmentally they’re really important and they also tend to be less expensive.
But if you look at oysters and mussels, their nutrition profile is unbelievable, days and days worth of key nutrients. And yet they’re often not included on superfoods lists. It’s not to say that fruits and vegetables don’t deserve a huge place in our diet, but you can’t live off them.
It’s a matter of saying superfoods can include animal protein, beans, foods like yogurt and eggs — as well as fruits and vegetables and nuts and beans. So there are foods from all categories that qualify; it isn’t just berries, berries and more berries.
Which superfood did you find was surprisingly most impressive and which was most disappointing in delivering superior health or nutritional benefits?
Probably the most disappointing were blueberries; not because they are poor in nutrients or value, but because I really expected to see some very strong black-and-white research, and it was actually largely in animals.
We get this sort of notion that they are really protective of brain health or in preventing cancer. I suspect that part of the issue might be that wild blueberries might have more nutritional value than cultivated, but cultivated — which are the bigger, plumper ones — are the ones that are more typically studied.
On the high end of things, and this one’s tricky, again I have to go with the oysters and mussels, which really caught my eye and made me realize that if vegetarians — who can eat a little bit of meat — were eating small amounts of some of these (seafood), they would be able to feed their need for a lot of the nutrients that are missing in their diet.
For plant food, maybe avocadoes. Even though I knew they were really nutritious, they just kept popping up on every list, they were just so impressive across the board that they’re almost unique in their qualities.
Health Canada recommends five to 10 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Are there guidelines on how much superfoods we should be eating?
I think the real question is, ‘How little I should be eating of the other stuff?’ More and more we’re understanding that foods that are refined and processed moderately or heavily are really tough on our bodies.
That doesn’t mean they can’t have a place in our diet or that you can never have a hamburger or eat chips at a party. But if you really look at your diet, an awful lot of these foods have refined ingredients. That to me is what sets superfoods apart. So, almonds and berries and green peppers and milk and whatever, that to me should be our bread and butter.
What do you mean when you say those foods ‘are really tough on our bodies?’
The main thing is chronic or clinical inflammation — not inflammation from a sprained ankle or a fever, but a quiet inflammation that courses through our veins. More and more we’re appreciating that that may be the tipping point for developing things like diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer’s.
So when people eat something like a sugary cereal or a croissant, that’s when we trigger that inflammatory response. And it doesn’t give us disease overnight; but the more we push those buttons over a lifetime, that’s when we put ourselves in harm’s way.
What do you want people to take away most from Unmasking Superfoods?
I don’t want anyone to get the impression that acai or goji berries or coconut water have nothing to offer. It’s just that the elevation of these foods is a bit of false idolatry.
The reality is we have plenty of foods locally available that have a huge upside to them. They’re much gentler on the environment and should be our bread and butter.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Sygo’s Super 5
While Jennifer Sygo, a registered dietitian and author of Unmasking Superfoods, stresses that it’s questionable to elevate some foods over others, her research did lead to a few that were clearly nutritional knockouts. Her Top 5 picks in alphabetical order:
1. Almonds
New research shows that our bodies don’t process much of the fats in nuts, making them an even healthier and more appealing choice. Photo: Postmedia File
Why: Among the best researched superfoods, these nuts are loaded with vitamin E, which studies suggest is linked to better cognitive function as you age. They’re also good sources of protein, fibre, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, and B vitamins riboflavin and niacin.
And, new research on the calorie content of these nutritional nuts and discovery that our bodies don’t process much of the fat in nuts, make them even more appealing. A one-ounce serving provides 129 calories worth of energy, not 169 as originally thought.
2. Avocado
A cup of avocado can provide about 40 per cent of a woman’s daily fibre needs. Photo: xenia/morgueFile
Why: Sygo says avocado is possibly the most nutritionally well-rounded offering in the fruit and vegetable category. A cup of avocado can provide about 40 per cent of a woman’s daily fibre needs, and a quarter of your vitamin C and 39 per cent of your vitamin K requirements. They’re also good sources of folate, magnesium, copper and potassium.
And, 15 of the 22 grams of fat in a cup of avocadoes come from monounsaturated fat, the same heart-healthy type for which the Mediterranean diet is renowned.
3. Spinach
Super-healthy spinach is also a weight-watcher’s dream: one cup has just seven calories. Photo: Andreas Andersson
Why: One of the lowest-calorie foods on the planet, this green leafy vegetable is an excellent source of vision-saving vitamin. A half-cup of cooked spinach serves up 229 percent of your daily vitamin A and 642 per cent of your daily vitamin K needs, according to Sygo.
Add calcium, iron, vitamin B2, magnesium and folate, and spinach truly lives up to its nutritional superstar status. Plus, spinach is a weight-watcher’s dream: one cup has just seven calories.
4. Oysters or Mussels
Just a handful of mussels provides a day’s worth of omega 3s. Photo: Max Straeten/morgueFile
Why: “While oysters may be seen as a delicacy, their nutritional value makes you wish they could be a staple food,” writes Sygo. They’re good sources of protein and omega 3 fatty acids and just eight oysters contain 67 calories, much less than the 250 calories in a salmon filet. Mussels are even richer in protein than oysters, with a three-ounce (85-gram) serving providing 20 grams of the muscle-building nutrient. And just a handful of mussels provides a day’s worth of omega 3s.
Both oysters and mussels are also loaded with vitamins and nutrients ranging from iron to vitamin C, selenium, magnesium and folate.
5. Sweet Potatoes
A cup of sweet potatoes will provide you with two-thirds of your daily vitamin C needs. Foodland Ontario
Why: Their culinary versatility — from baked to mash, pureed in a smoothie or in baked goods already make sweet potatoes a favourite veggie. But it’s their nutritive value that lets them make Sygo’s shortlist. A cup (200 grams) of baked sweet potato yields just 180 calories and provides four grams of protein and seven grams of fibre, which helps to lower its glycemic value.
That cup of potatoes will also provide you with two-thirds of your daily vitamin C and eight per cent of your calcium and iron needs for the day. Add a host of B vitamins, oodles of vitamin A, iron, calcium and a high potassium content, and sweet potatoes should indeed be one of your go-to foods — super or otherwise.