Thriving with Superfoods

I have come to believe that the term “super food” is simply a marketing term used to pump up exotic, imported, and often expensive foods. True super foods have been around for decades in our neighborhood markets and I think that the truest super foods have a small carbon footprint: foods grown in local season with a short travel distance. Perhaps the ultimate super foods are the ones grown yourself in your beloved garden.

What constitutes a super food? It is a whole food that packs a nutritional punch for every calorie. A super food would nourish the body in protein, fat, and carbohydrate, be chock full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, be jammed with living enzymes, and would have an alkalizing effect on the body.

This definition immediately rules out any cooked food, processed food, animal-derived foods, or caffeinated foods. Cooked food (over 118 degrees Fahrenheit) no longer has living enzymes, processed foods are no longer naturally whole, animal-derived foods are acid forming in the body, and caffeinated foods are stimulating and exhausting to the nervous system.

Some of the most delightful and delicious super foods to be found in almost any market would be fruits and vegetables. Ideally eaten raw or lightly steamed, bite for bite these foods are alkalizing, living, whole, and relaxing to the nervous system. Whole nuts and nut milks properly prepared meet super food standards as does green and herbal teas.

Here is my list of 10 often overlooked everyday super foods:

1. Banana

Approximately 100 calories per banana, this fruit is filling, provides superior fuel, is transportable, and makes an excellent base for a variety of ice cream and smoothie flavors. Make sure your bananas have freckles. This way you know the starch has converted to sugar which will fuel you instead of constipate you!

2. Broccoli

Lightly steamed topped with freshly squeezed lemon juice, broccoli is a powerhouse of disease preventing and reversing nutrients. Because it requires little added fat or salt to be thoroughly enjoyed, this is a go-to green food in my diet.

3. Berries

These little powerhouses of anti-oxidants and vitamins are often overlooked. It is important to purchase berries grown organically as often as possible for these delicate foods are some of the most highly sprayed with chemicals. They can be enjoyed fresh or frozen so can easily be kept on hand at all times.

4. Watermelon

Not only is a good watermelon so delightfully sweet, watermelon is an excellent diuretic for flushing out excess fluids from the body. Because melons digest so quickly and easily, it is recommend to eat melons alone. Mixed with other fruit can pass by some digestive tracts without trouble, but if melon causes any indigestion, try eating it alone for better success and enjoyment.

5. Lemons

While perceived as very acidic to skin, teeth, and to taste, the lemon has an alkalizing effect inside the body. Eating highly alkalizing foods often (recommended 80% of overall diet) helps the body to maintain a desirable pH, warding off inflammation and the invitation of disease. Lemon juice can be enjoyed squeezed on fruits, in hot or cold water, on green salads, and in smoothies or pressed juices.

6. Green Juice

A great way to pack in dense vegetable nutrition without doing a lot of chewing is drinking green juice. Whether you make it yourself or buy it at a shop, be sure your juice is freshly pressed, not pasteurized (cooked), and contains no fruit with the exception of Granny Smith apple, lemon, or lime. Green juices need to be made predominately from vegetables and herbs with a little bit of fruit included for a touch of sweet tartness.

7. Sweet Peas

These little balls of happiness are packed with pure, clean plant protein! Eat them raw or steamed regularly as a base for other vegetables or non-sweet fruits (like avocado and tomatoes) or sprinkled over a mixed green salad. Organic sweet peas are easy to keep on hand in the freezer and are a treat to find fresh at the market.

8. Celery

Sodium (not salt which is sodium chloride) is abundant in celery and is an alkalizing mineral henceforth why celery is excellent for the bones. Slather it in freshly made nut butter if you must, however try learning to love eating the sweet stalks of celery alone for maximum benefit.

9. Spinach

Eaten raw or steamed, spinach is pure green goodness. Mixed with other greens or eaten alone, included in a smoothie, or snacked on like chips, spinach has fallen into the shadows since the darling of greens, kale, has taken center stage.

10. Almonds

Excellent raw and whole, mashed into almond butter, or blended into almond milk, this versatile nut features a bounty of healthy fat, vitamins, and fiber. Ideally nuts are enjoyed sprouted to neutralize any enzyme inhibitors and purchased non-irradiated.

This is an incomplete list of an extensive possibility of wonderful domestic super foods. There are just too many whole, raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds to pick only 10. If it is full of color, fresh, alive, unprocessed, and requires no added fat, salt, or sugar for full enjoyment, you have in your possession a truly super food. Enjoy!