Superfoods 2022
Superfoods
Every healthy food is a "superfood" for your body's cells. (Fitness To A Tee)
As we head into the last week of January, I'm finishing this month where, on the Fitness To A Tee pages - I chatted about weight loss, healthy weight gain and how to relieve knee pain/joint health - with the most important key to it all - food!
To achieve any of the goals I've discussed this month and indeed any other health goals - it starts in the kitchen.
Why superfoods?
My focus is on superfoods in this blog post as we hear this word used alot and I often get asked "Tee what are superfoods and which should I be having?"
Superfood is used to describe certain foods which are seen as being high in nutrient value and offer many health benefits.
My view in support of Harvard research
However, those in the nutrition field including research from Harvard argue that the word "superfood" has become popular more for boosting sales - than foods being "the food" of the year. I side with this.
Besides the official superfoods which are often chatted about in the media such as cacao, maca and moringa (few examples) - there are so many foods I would call "superfoods" too because they have numerous health benefits. I mean how often, do we see a fruit which is healthy for different reasons? An example is a mango, which helps with e.g. eye health; has anti-ageing benefits and boosts the immune system (and that's just mentioning a few benefits - see Superfood List below).
It's important to focus instead on eating a variety of healthy foods. To me - all healthy foods are superfoods as they help our body's cells! Sometimes the official superfoods lists items are not accessible to everyone worldwide. This doesn't mean they are "missing out" because there are always great nutritious foods accessible in our local areas and growing for humans in that environment.
Look younger - my secrets revealed in 2022
Besides showing you foods that not only help remedy this month's goals, I'll be showing you alot more of my top tips for looking younger and having glowing, youthful skin.
This is because throughout 2021, particularly as I turned 41 years old - I kept/keep getting DM's about how young I look for 41 (thank you) so I thought I'd start sharing more of my age defying tips regularly this year YASS!
I really am a "the more natural the better" fan, so I'll be showing how I love combining my holistic health to look younger (physical, nutrition, mental + emotional).
2022 Official Superfood List
There are various lists published each year of which superfoods are trending in 2022, for example by the Whole Foods Annual Trends report. Yep healthy foods "trend". I wonder if our ancestors could ever have imagined such a time lol.
Amongst the list are foods such as (few examples as there are usually different lists)
Mushrooms
Fermented foods
Mankai (a vegetable)
Turmeric
Pomegranate seeds
Tahini (main ingredient of hummus, made from ground sesame seeds)
Moringa
Cranberries
Hemp seeds
Cruciferous vegetables
Ancient grains e.g. quinoa, amaranth etc
More superfood staples - "the Original Gangsters" 😆
Here are a few more "superfoods" I would add to the long list which are firm favourites. Whilst these may not be trending on any hot list, they are definitely those accessible foods which have numerous benefits.
Leafy greens
Full of fibre (digestive health)
Weight loss and weight maintenance as they keep you fuller for longer
Good water content=hydration
Boosts mental/emotional health
Gives glowing skin
Watermelon
Bone health
Skin health because of e.g. Vitamin C
Great water content - diuretic (get rid of excess water) and also hydrating
Fibre - good for digestion/gut health
Heart health
Mango
Antioxidants - help with protecting your body's cells from damage
Fibre - great for digestion and keeps you fuller for longer which can help with weight loss
Good for eye health due to e.g. beta carotene and Vitamin A
Ginger
Aids digestion
Helps fight off flu, colds etc (boosts immune system)
Reduces body inflammation (disease fighting)
Cleansing properties
Maca powder (made from a Peruvian root + accessible in health food stores worldwide)
Boosts fertility
Gives energy
Boosts mental and emotional health
Cacao powder (from the raw, unprocessed cacao bean)
Anti-inflammatory (disease fighting)
Boosts mental and emotional health
Anti-ageing
Mesquite powder (from the mesquite tree which grows in hot, desert climates such as Central America)
Polyphenols: anti-ageing, reduce/prevent diabetes
Anti-inflammatory
Good source of protein + iron
Good source of calcium (bone health)
Boosts heart health.
I hope you enjoyed learning more about superfoods and appreciating how food can truly be "our medicine".
If you're in your 30's+, check out the #fitnesstoatee Hotty@40 online and customised exercise and nutrition plan, where you get coaching from me wherever you are in the world. Click here to book a free 30 mins chat with me.