Superfood Series: What is a Superfood?

What’s so SUPER about Superfoods?

In this first post in our new Superfood Series we join the debate about Superfoods and hope to engage your comments and questions as we explore the S-U-P-E-R in Superfoods.

By Matthew Gaffney of TheFeelGoodLounge

I was shopping at a farmers market last week and noticed whole aloe vera leaves at a vegetable and green herb booth. I mention to the vendor that aloe vera is listed in the top 10 of a book called Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future by David Wolfe. The vendor replied that one of their other herbs, dandelion greens, also deserves the Superfoods moniker.

I thought to myself: “Dandelion greens a Superfood?”.

Superfoods are loosely defined

Different schools of thought offer different ideas about what is and what isn’t a Superfood. Your intuition probably defines it the same as wikipedia or an online encyclopedia does: a food with high nutrient or phytonutrient content.

But that does not make it any easier, you say?  We agree.  Are dandelion greens and blueberries deserving of the coveted Superfood label that classics such as Goji Berries, Cacao, Maca, Spirulina, and Coconuts command?

Let’s take a look at two schools of thought:

• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
• Our contemporary Superfood guru David Wolfe

Superfoods according to Traditional Chinese Medicine

In TCM, there are 3 classes of herbs:

1. Superior
2. General
3. Inferior

Superior Class Herbs are considered to be the ultimate life and health promoting adaptogenic substances known to humankind. The Superior Class Herbs can be used daily and are ‘complete’ by themselves.

General and Inferior Class Herbs have special properties, but are used in special situations, combinations, and are typically used for short periods of time.

Superfoods according to David Wolfe

Each of these plant-based foods contain an extraordinary and unusual array of nutrients and characteristics. The following are the top 10 Superfoods in Wolfe’s book.

1. Goji Berry
2. Cacao
3. Maca
4. Bee Products (raw honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly)
5. Spirulina
6. AFA Super Blue-Green Algae
7. Marine Phytoplankton
8. Aloe Vera
9. Hempseed
10. Coconuts

Honorable mentions:

• Acai
• Camu Camu
• Chlorella
• Incan Berry
• Kelp
• Noni
• Yacon

In this Superfood Series we’ll cover the facts and the controversy surrounding Superfoods and hope to engage in the debate with you, so shoot us YOUR questions and comments…and let’s get this show on the road!

• What is a Superfood?
• How do you define a Superfood?
• How do you prepare them and include them in your diet?
• Marketing hype or genuine health benefits?

Matthew Gaffney is the author of The Chocolate Sundae Paradox and the creator of TheFeelGoodLounge.com.  Inspired by the pursuit of radiant health, Matt’s transformation went from a burger and pizza connoisseur to a radiant health connoisseur. Matt features three of his raw Superfood elixirs in a natural foods store in Los Angeles under TheFeelGoodLounge label.

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