Superfood is all the rage in health and wellness right now. What is superfood? A caped broccoli or a bat-eared banana? Not exactly.

Almost any natural unrefined fruit, vegetable, nut or seed that is packed full of a variety of nutrients can be called a superfood; but some are more super than others. My point here is to tell you why some foods are considered more powerful than others. What gives them that extra special kick?

Color Your Plate Like a Rainbow

Superfoods have an abundance of all the stuff your body needs to develop, grow and maintain optimal health. There is no one food that has everything, meaning you can’t just live off of oranges. We need a variety and a colorful plate, or a colorful weekly menu, is the best way to get it.

Supplements are not the best way to fill your nutritional needs and vitamin fortified foods are like putting a bandaid on a chronic problem. The reason for this is because every natural food substance has micronutrients and macronutrients that work synergistically together. Split them apart or add them to something else and they become far less effective.

Your weekly shopping list should look something like this: a variety and abundance of green, red, yellow, orange, purple  and blue vegetables and fruit. A few whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, maybe some wild Alaskan salmon or free range chicken, a bit of spices and good oils, green tea & Tulsi tea (Holy Basil).

If you can get your daily diet to the point of being 75% fruits and vegetables and no processed foods you will feel an incredible boost in energy!

Abundant Micronutrients and Macronutrients

Spring and summer is the best time of year to start eating more raw fruits and vegetables. The greater variety of colors you include in your daily diet, and the more raw or unprocessed  food you include the better you will feel. Lightly cooked vegetables are fine too. Below is a partial list of foods and nutrients that get recognition in the super category.

 Nutrient super list for the food above

• Vitamins & minerals
• Antioxidants
• Omega-3 fats
• Polyphenols
• Glucosinolates
• Lycopene
• Anthocyanin
• Zeaxanthin
• Lutein

More Energy and Less Disease

In the past 20 years scientists have learned a lot about the way our bodies use food and the role of food in health management. In the past doctors could care less about what you were eating because their focus was on developing medicine that would cure disease. Due to the current overwhelming data on how dietary change can reverse disease, the medical field is being forced to open it’s eyes and embrace prevention through lifestyle management.

Superfoods are high in nutrients that help to fight or prevent disease, especially the most common diseases today that can be impacted by dietary change, such as:

• Cancer
• Type 2 Diabetes
• High Cholesterol
• High Blood Pressure
• Heart Disease
• Obesity
• Some autoimmune diseases
• Some mental illnesses

In truth, the term “Superfood” is just a catchphrase for good nutrition. A term created to get you to look at what food can do for you. A phrase created to get people thinking about the nutritional value we get when we eat from the earth’s bounty instead of eating all the processed, chemical filled and nutritionally depleted stuff that fills most grocery stores.

Fun in the Sun

The body also needs sunlight, clean air and water, and exercise to stay healthy and fit. That makes summertime the perfect season for healthy lifestyle changes that will increase energy, prevent, treat or cure disease, and allow us to enjoy life to the fullest.