Much of the food we eat today is full of unhealthy ingredients. Many formerly non-sugary foods are today high in sugar as well, and this leads to increasing rates of obesity and diabetes. The life expectancy in the United States is no longer growing and has decreased very slightly in recent years.
On the plus side, there is more access to health and fitness information today than ever before. New supplements and life extension drugs allow people to live longer and healthier lives than previous generations, even if life expectancy is no longer increasing. As food becomes increasingly unnatural, interest in natural foods and medicines also increases. Even if the average life expectancy in most rich countries is going to decrease for a while, one can still live a healthy life today. Just because most of the food available in restaurants and grocery stores today is unhealthy does not mean one has to eat it. There is still plenty of healthy food available for those who recognize the importance of a proper diet.
What Are Superfoods?
Superfoods are particularly nutritionally dense foods that include a ton of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Most people do not eat superfoods very often. Blueberries, for example, are so full of healthy antioxidants that one should eat them daily, but people do not eat them frequently. Kale and Acai are also popular superfoods. Raw Cocoa powder is another popular choice. Most superfoods are plants, but very nutrient-dense meats such as salmon are also superfoods. Superfoods also include foods that are good for gut health, also known as the intestinal microbiome. Komboucha and other probiotics are much more popular than they used to be due to the importance of gut health becoming more widely known. As well as eating raw or cooked vegetables such as kale for their health benefits, many people consume superfoods in the form of supplements. Pills and extracts made out of natural ingredients are in many, but not all cases better than prescription drugs. Many people make superfood smoothies that contain either raw ingredients or powders and extracts.
Popular Sources Of Superfoods
Supplement companies use any plant that is dense in vitamins and minerals as a source of ingredients for superfood supplements. Palm fruit, seaweed, acerola cherries, orange peels, and even some forms of algae contain compounds with powerful energizing and healing effects. Of course, not everything marketed as a superfood is healthy. Some supplements are of low quality. Organic superfoods tend to be the best superfoods. The most expensive brands are not always the best, and one should be wary of brands that offer ordinary quality at a much higher price.
Health Benefits Of Superfoods
The health benefits of superfoods and the best superfood powder largely come from the antioxidants found in many of these foods. Oxidative stress causes aging and chronic health problems. Drinking, smoking, and normal bodily processes create dangerous compounds known as free radicals. Even those who do not drink or smoke at all will still produce free radicals. Free radicals cause oxidative stress, which damages the immune system, heart, DNA, and brain. Oxidative stress can also cause cancer in the long run. Foods that have an antioxidant effect protect the body from oxidative stress.
Other foods that can claim superfood status work by improving gut health. Foods that enhance the health of the gut bacteria are known as probiotics. While antibiotics treat infections by killing harmful bacteria, probiotics boost health by increasing bacteria that are good for health. Digestion does not work correctly if the gut lacks bacteria that help one digest food.
Many superfoods also work simply by being very dense in vitamins or by containing vitamins that are not easy to find in a typical diet. Kale is one of the most vitamin-rich foods that exists. While commonly eaten foods such as carrots and onions are nutritious, one can often do better if they eat uncommon but increasingly popular nutrient-dense foods such as kale.
Alternatives To Superfoods
Sometimes, the best solution to a physical or medical health problem does not have much to do with nutrition, probiotics, or antioxidants. While many health problems will disappear with a better diet, this is not always true. Exercise (including for reasonably short periods), sunshine, sleep, and fasting can sometimes do more to improve one’s health than superfoods. However, diet is often first and foremost. What one eats mostly determines the health of their body. Eating some of the best superfoods can do just as much as getting more exercise.
What Are Green Powders Aka Superfood Supplements?
Green powders are made out of a variety of different uncommonly eaten plants that contain health benefits. Green powders are supplements that provide a mix of antioxidants, probiotics, vitamins, and adaptogens. A green powder allows one to get the benefits of many different superfoods. The best green powders get all of their nutrition from plants and do not include any synthetic ingredients. Extracts of broccoli, milk thistle, various medicinal grasses, are put together to create green powders.
Benefits Of Using Green Powders As An Alternative
High-quality green powders have a variety of different positive effects on the body. One might have to eat several different superfoods to achieve all of the different results that a single brand of green powder can provide. Merely taking one product can allow you to have a diet rich in antioxidants, probiotics, and nutrients. Green powders also contain other ingredients such as digestive enzymes (plant enzymes are enough to cure many digestive problems immediately) and chlorophyll. Chlorophyll improves blood health and is not easy to eat in high quantities without supplements.
Pros And Cons Of Green Powders
Green powders are not a miraculous supplement that one can eat instead of vegetables. Just as one should not attempt to get all of their protein from protein powder, these powders are not an excuse to stop eating vegetables. Plants are a much better source of natural fiber than plant powders. Green powders are also processed, and one thing that most of those who remain in good health until late in life have in common is that they are non-processed food eaters.
On the plus side, high-quality green powders can be an excellent addition to a diet that includes vegetables. Green powders are easy to digest and combine the health-boosting ingredients of many different plants. There is no single food that contains as many different vitamins and health-boosting ingredients as one can find in green powders. A person’s diet tends to vary from one week to another. One cannot always be bothered to make sure that they are taking enough probiotics or antioxidants to remain in optimal health.
Should I Try Green Powders?
Green powders are reasonably cheap and easy to find, so one does not have much to lose by trying them. One may be able to buy them locally at a supermarket or more likely at a health food store. If one cannot find green powders locally, one can order them cheaply online. Sometimes, green powders are strong enough to cure or quite noticeably reduce a health problem immediately. One might also end up with improvements to their mood and mental health as soon as they start taking green powders.
The Bottom Line
Although many people are, unfortunately, exceptions to this rule, one’s health is mainly under their control. Just because most rather than some of the food available today is unhealthy does not mean one cannot eat healthily. Superfoods, including superfood supplements, can help one live a long and healthy life.
Sources
- http://superfoodplus.com/ingredients/
- https://zigverve.com/lifestyle/foods-drinks/superfoods-dietary-sources-and-health-benefits-of-antioxidants/
- https://oureverydaylife.com/236254-top-10-super-foods-for-antioxidants.html
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-blueberries#section9
- http://superfoodplus.com/ingredients/
- https://barbend.com/best-green-superfood-supplement-drinks-reviews/
- https://nestednaturals.com/blogs/blog/greens-powders-vs-vegetables/