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Superfoods
are special foods that contain an extraordinary amount of naturally-occurring
nutrition. Some call superfoods "green foods" (and rightfully so, as
many superfoods contain extraordinary amounts of chlorophyll, but not
all superfoods are green foods). Some superfoods have been included
on lists of herbs. There is a fine line between "herbs" and "superfoods":
Herbs are medicinal plants that are used primarily in the traditional
treatment of sickness and disorder in the body. Herbs are not encouraged
for constant usage, as the body can become tolerant to these healing
plants, decreasing their potency when needed. Superfoods on the other
hand, are foods that should be regularly supplemented to the diet to
complete the body's need for amino acids, trace minerals, vitamins and
other trace nutritional compounds.
Superfoods have been eaten by traditional cultures all over the world
for millions of years. Certain cultures have focused on a particular
set of superfoods, as they have been readily available in that particular
climate. With many advancements in modern food technology, we have been
able to carefully dehydrate and store these superfoods for use in parts
of the world where they have not been previously available. That is
why many superfoods are not well known, as they have only been available
over the past 20 years in other parts of the world!
In many traditional societies, superfoods of that culture have been
revered foods, foods taken with ceremony and taken with respect. For
example, bee pollen and royal jelly have been traditions of desert cultures,
where bee-keeping was a tradition, while in aquatic regions kelps and
algaes have been used as dietary supplements, or even mainstays of particular
cultures.
Superfoods are special in that they provide a natural mix of nutrition.
Our modern scientists have gone a long way in detailing what they believe
are the amounts of nutrition that the human body requires for efficient
performance. These "RDA"s of nutrition have gone through many revisions
over the past 20 years, and actually, when you consider that these scientists
have only just begun this "chemical analysis" of what our bodies need
over the past 30 years or so. Did you know that most medical schools
do not teach nutrition in their schools? Did you know that vitamin K,
now known to be required for proper blood nutrition, was only just discovered
about 15 years ago? Up until then, these "nutritionists" did not know
that your body needed this vitamin! How many more nutrients, especially
the trace ones, have we yet to discover? Are we willing to be the guinea
pigs of these "nutritionists" and make sure that we take only what they
think that we need? Of course not. There is another way. A way that
puts our trust in a more trust-worthy source: nature. Nature has been
providing health in nutritional foods for many more years than our scientists!
In fact, just recently it has been discovered that certain vitamins
cannot be digested or assimilated properly into the body without the
appropriate naturally-occurring "faciliators". These "facilitators"
are catalysts for the proper and complete digestion of certain nutrients.
It has been determined that most of these "facilitators" are naturally-occurring
in combination with these certain nutrients. An example is vitamin C,
which is more completely assimilated by the body when taken in conjunction
with bioflavinoids, which are usually co-existant with vitamin C in
fruits. This type of discovery should lead the logical person to question
why we are wasting so much time trying to re-create the perfect diet
when natural has already created it! All we have to do is add this perfect
nutrition to our diets.
Just think of all of the compounds that are naturally-occurring on the
smallest and most minute levels in our foods.....every day it seems
there is a new announcement that some food helps prevent certain disfunctions.
Will we ever know all of the natural compounds that help keep us healthy?
When it comes to supplementing, there is our science's attempt at dietary
supplements, i.e., vitamins and minerals that are isolated or formed
chemically in a laboratory, and then there is nature's dietary supplements:
superfoods! Trusting in nature seems to be the safest course.
Some superfoods contain every essential amino acid needed by the body
for protein-building. Our bodies actually require raw amino acids to
form our own unique proteins, which we create into complex helixes,
as opposed to requiring already-formed protein molecules. When the body
digests entire protein molecules that have been formed in another body,
our digestive system attempts to break off the amino acids that it requires
in order to make new protein molecules. This is a very difficult process
for the body, explaining why our bodies take so long to digest meat
meals as opposed to salads or fruit meals. But when we eat sources of
simple amino acids, like plant materials, our bodies take the amino
acids off and mix and match them to easily manufacture the protein molecules
that are unique to our system, complete with our own DNA. Grasses, algaes
and kelps all contain extraordinary amounts of various amino acids,
completing our protein requirements. Spirulina, one of the most nutritious
superfoods, contains every essential and even most of the non-essential
amino acids.
In fact, you can successfully replace every vitamin, mineral and protein
supplement on the market today with the proper mix of superfoods, and
get the full array of nutrition. Below we will cover some of the most
highly-respected superfoods and discuss some of their properties. By
no means is this an exhaustive list. Over time we will attempt to continue
to add more superfoods to the list as we have time.
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