‘Superfoods’ - no doubt a phrase you’ve heard thrown around a lot these days. But is it just a bit of a buzzword used to sell everyday fruits and vegetables? Well, in theory, it's referring to foods that offer high amounts of nutritional benefits and ideally, fewer calories. The ‘super’ part comes from the fact that these foods are often filled with beneficial vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
There aren’t any specific hard-fast rules about what is and isn’t a superfood, however, there is certainly a criteria for what they tend to contain. Most tend to be plant-based and often superfoods are unsurprisingly often lovely, colourful fruits and vegetables.
With this in mind, we define what classes as a superfood, offer some examples and offer a few tips on how to include them in your lunch. Here at POW Food, we prepare healthy and nutritional lunches packed with superfoods right to your door or office if you’re struggling to get your superfoods in.
What are superfoods?
A superfood is classed as food that possesses a particularly high nutritional density. What this means is that they offer you a substantial amount of nutrients at very few calories. They also possess a large number of vitamins and antioxidants. Antioxidants naturally occur in various types of food. They can support you and neutralize free radicals in our bodies. Antioxidant molecules lower or can reverse the effects of free radicals that have close links with certain health issues which include:- Heart problems
- Several types of cancer
- Arthritis
- The risk of strokes
- Respiratory diseases
- Immune deficiency
- Parkinson’s disease
Common superfoods and how to incorporate them into lunchtime
In this section, we will give you the lowdown of some of the most effective (and also delicious) superfoods that you can easily implement into your meals, more specifically lunchtimes. Another key benefit for many is that the nutrients that superfoods contain support you in promoting a glowing complexion, stronger nails and hair and help to increase energy levels. They can also help maintain a healthy weight. In this section, we will give you the lowdown of some of the most effective (and also delicious) superfoods that you can easily implement into your meals, more specifically lunchtimes.Berries
Berries are an excellent and versatile fruit. A few common superfood berries include acai berries, blueberries, raspberries, tart cherries, cranberries, and goji berries. They have the following benefits:Acai berries
They’re small, dark purple berries and come from South America. They contain a whopping 19 amino acids and lots of antioxidants. Acai is great as a smoothie bowl topper or even a handful as a snack at lunch would be great. You could even throw some on a salad for a really delicious sweet flavour.Blueberries
Blueberries contain plenty of fibre, manganese, and vitamin K. They're an excellent snack but if you're looking to increase your berry intake, throwing a couple of blueberries on yoghurt at lunch is an excellent way to increase your superfood intake.Goji berries
Goji’s are small red berries and contain plenty of vitamin C and E. They are often used in medicine to help treat diabetes and high blood pressure and are known to support liver, and kidney health. Goji berries are often bought dried, much like raisins. Having a handful with lunch as a snack is a great idea. They’re also great used with seeds as a salad topper.Soy
Soybeans have a considerable amount of isoflavones in them, this is a type of phytochemical. Phytochemicals are compounds that occur naturally in lots of types of plants. A few studies have indicated that soy may help to work as prevention against memory loss. Soy can also as well as decreasing menopausal symptoms. Lots of foods contain soy, particularly lots of non-meat alternatives so this can be a great option for lunches in the form of a meat-free salad or chilli or pasta.Greens
Everyone is familiar with the saying ‘get your greens’ and this saying is certainly prevalent with regard to ‘leafy greens’. Think kale, spinach, chard, all of these could be classified as superfood leafy greens. These leafy greens are rich in vitamins A, C, E, and K, and lots of B vitamins. Leafy greens also have a huge amount of carotenoids, iron, magnesium, potassium, and calcium in them. A cup of kale has a whopping 550 micrograms of vitamin K, equivalent to over 680 percent of a person’s suggested intake needs. Kale as well as lots of other leafy greens are fibre-rich and have a high water content too! This helps to alleviate constipation and encourage regularity and healthy digestion. All of these leafy greens can be used in salads and included in wraps, pittas and sandwiches as a part of a healthy and balanced lunch.Salmon
The levels of omega-3 fatty acid in salmon, as well as other fatty fish, can lower the risk of abnormal heartbeats, reduce cholesterol. With this in mind, salmon is a great lunch option. Why not replace the tuna in a salad nicoise and use salmon instead? Or you could marinate your salmon in chilli, garlic, soy and lime juice and serve with rice or noodles.Other common superfoods
Some of the other common superfoods include:- Spirulina
- Blue-green algae
- Garlic
- Wheatgrass
- turmeric
- Brazil nuts
- Barley