The term “superfood” refers to foods that offer maximum nutritional benefits for minimal calories. They contain a high content of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. Antioxidants help fight off free radicals from causing oxidative damage and help curb these inflammatory agents from causing damage to our cells. Minerals and vitamins help your body to perform at its highest level.
Most of the superfoods are also high in fiber, flavonoids and healthy fats. Fiber helps decrease cholesterol, prevent heart disease and control glucose in Type 2 diabetes. Flavonoids found in plants have anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. Healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) help lower your cholesterol and prevent heart disease and stroke.
Therefore, superfoods help promote overall health by increasing your immune function and decreasing your chance of disease progression.
Each superfood has different nutritional properties, but overall, they’re associated with:
- Heart health.
- A strong immune system.
- Cancer prevention.
- Reduced inflammation.
- Lower cholesterol.
Some of the common superfoods include makhana, blueberries, leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, salmon, turmeric, garlic, nuts and seeds.
Makhana also called fox nut is one such superfood. Highly nutritious and tasty, makhana is the perfect snack. It is also used raw, as a food ingredient. Free of the kinds of sugars and saturated fats found in most chips and snacks, makhana is highly rich in protein, fiber, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and zinc, whilst low in fat and high in carbohydrates. This makes it nutritionally distinct from other nuts and also healthier than dry fruits like almonds, walnuts, coconut and cashews in terms of sugar, protein, ascorbic acid and phenol content. It is also significantly lower in the glycemic index than most high carbohydrate foods like rice or bread – and gluten-free.
However, superfoods are not cure-all foods. Including superfoods as part of daily nutritional intake is a great idea alongside consuming a healthy and balanced diet overall.
Optimize your health by increasing your superfood intake. Not only do superfoods help nourish your body from the inside out, but by boosting your diet with these nutrient-dense powerhouse foods, you may feel better than you ever have before.
