Superfoods Explained: A Fact Based Analysis of Foods with Uncommonly High Nutritive Values

By Paul Rogers

Finally - A Fact Based Nutritional Analysis Of Foods That Can Really Be Called "Superfoods"

Superfoods - you've undoubtedly heard the term, it is a marketing buzz word put onto any food that sounds exotic and has claims of weight loss, longevity and better living. But what foods really do have "super" ingredients? What foods should we be eating to fully compliment an active, athletic lifestyle? And which "superfoods" do not live up to their marketing claims at all? 

Superfoods Explained: A Fact Based Analysis of Foods with Uncommonly High Nutritive Values

This book is an analysis of foods that have uncommonly high nutritional value, especially as it pertains to persons with extreme nutritional demands, such as athletes or those leading an active lifestyle. This book will explain:

• What "Superfoods" Are More Marketing Hype Than Anything?
• Non-Common or Exotic Species and Their Nutritional Values
• Common Vegetables and Naturally Growing Wild Species
  • Common Wild and Cultivated Vegetables
  • Green Leafy Vegetables
  • Edible Wild Species
• The Absolute Preferred Method to Prepare Foods to Exploit Their Nutritional Value

Go Beyond the Hype to Better Understand Which Foods We Should Be Eating and How They Impact Our Daily Nutritional Demands!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Rogers
• Release date: Aug 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516330690

Book preview

Introduction

Superfoods are defined as those types of foods that contain an unusually high content of nutritive and/or medical chemical compounds known for their benefits to human health. There is no shortage of books proclaiming the benefits of superfoods for everything from longevity to weight loss.

This book is meant to serve as a comprehensive collection of scientific analyses of top nutritive resources meant for those who are living an active life. Specifically those involved in regular sports activities that require high energy output who need not only natural and regular rich source of specific nutrients but also an alternative for prevention of different health related conditions connected with their specific activity.

The subject of superfoods for this book is confined to naturally growing, plant based species. Animal based foods are not of interest since all of their properties are well known to the general population and not one can be singled out to contain higher than usual nutritive or health benefits. There is one essential nutrient found in animals that is not found elsewhere in plant based foods which will be addressed.

There are other species that in fact do not contain particularly higher amounts of nutrients, vitamins, minerals or chemical compounds but are currently marketed quite popularly as superfoods. This book will address these superfoods and break common myths connected with the falsely represented, unconfirmed and out-of-context claims. These claims create a misperception in the general population and draw attention from those foods that really do have more than the usual amounts of specific compounds that are beneficial for those with high demands that can benefit from the real superfoods.

With only one exception, we eliminated a couple of species that are advertised and claimed to be healthy and nutritive but at the same time cannot be obtained in a simple way and on a regular basis. Rare plants that grow on in the Himalayas or other distant and out-of-reach destinations might potentially be beneficial but those benefits cannot be exploited due to the fact that they are not easily attainable or cannot be cultivated because of protective regulations (endemic species.)

What is important to know is that superfoods should only be additions to a regular diet. Each possesses only one or a few beneficial compounds but those are present in high doses. It is a specific set of metabolites that hold the potential nutritive and/or healing properties, already discovered and used by the pharmaceutical industry in the production of medicaments. Not one of them can provide you with the entire set.

But, when observed as a whole, the superfoods explained in this guide will provide you with the essential supplies for high-energy output and almost all necessary nutrients. As you will see, this list, in some sense, represents almost a perfect diet when combined properly in respect to specific phytochemical content and body dynamics.

At the end, we will demonstrate that there is only one type (combination) of food that really does deserve to be called Superfood because