What Are Super
Foods
With the US Government releasing its new dietary recommendations
urging consumers to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables
and the average American still falling short of the old lower
recommendations: Green ‘super foods’ are getting a lot of attention
and their use is urged to fill in the nutritional gaps. But, what is
a green ‘super food’?
Green foods are often called ‘super foods’ because of
their superior health benefits. They are packed with nutrients the
body needs. They are considered superlative health foods because
they contain a wide variety of nutrients including vitamins,
minerals, proteins, essential fatty acids, flavonoids, carotenoids
and other substances that together exhibit anti-oxidant,
detoxifying, and anti-inflammatory activity.
US consumers were first introduced to green foods in
the form of wheat grass during the 1920’s. Today there are green
food categories that incorporate, microalgae, cereal grasses, plant
greens, vegetables, seaweed and aqua greens. The most common are
cereal grasses (barley, rye, oat, alfalfa, and wheat) and microalgae
(chlorella, spirulina, red algae, and blue-green algae). The whole
green foods such as the dark leafy vegetables (broccoli, alfalfa,
kale and spinach) are much desired as well.
Just as an example, over 140 nutrients have been
identified in blue-green algae, including 68 minerals. OneLife’s
Proanthocyandins have the wonderful addition of blue-green algae
combined with pinebark and grapeseed; yielding a powerful
anti-oxidant formula with all of the health benefits provided by the
nutrient dense blue-green algae.
The increased awareness of these ‘super foods’ played
an important role in the decision to combine flaxseed with a mix of
greens in OneLife’s formula: Super Flaxseed + Greens. The importance
of omega-3’s has been proven over and over again and flaxseed is an
excellent vegetarian source for these omega-3’s. Add the greens
combination and you have a formula that supplies an abundance of
nutrients.
Green foods are nature’s multivitamin/mineral
supplement. They are a natural source of vitamins and minerals, and
are in a form that is both safe and effective. The popularity of
these ‘super foods’ has grown tremendously over just the past year;
and as consumers become more familiar with their numerous
advantages, their popularity continues to soar.*
*Health Nutritional Retailer, March 2005.
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