The new superfoods

If you, like me, ate and drank way too much over the holidays hopefully you have already begun the road to recovery in the form of eating properly again and hitting the gym/pool/road/mountain trail/boxing ring etc. I exercise throughout the festive season and I try to be healthy most of the time but the diet is what is hardest to control. Booze is everywhere, you are always eating out and, let's face it, sometimes life is just too short to constantly be worried about what you eat. 

When I get back to the real world I get super-strict with what I eat and find a little bit of a detox goes a long way to repairing the damage caused. I've heard of people taking January or February as a dry month and not touching booze at all but I'm a realist. I know I could never do that so I prefer to look to food to do the detox for me. Loads of fruit and vegetables packed with anti-oxidants. That's the ticket. So I really appreciated The Other Guy Who Can Cook sending me a list from UK's Life & Style of the latest "superfoods". Look, the jury is still out as to exactly how potent the so-called superfood group is but I always find it interesting to check out the latest magic food. It seems stuff like raw chocolate, goji-berries and acai powder are "so last season". Check out these new weird and wonderful items...

1. The Maqui Berry. Apparently this little berry has the most antioxidants around due to it's dark purple colour. It supposedly helps prevent premature aging. It also aids in weight-loss. You can find it growing in Chile and Argentina. I'm not sure when Kauai/Sumo will throw them into a smoothie though...

2. Matcha. You know how much I dig a cup of tea by now surely? Green, white, oolong. I love them all. Well, matcha is like green tea on steroids. It is a concentrated version of all the health benefits (increased metabolism, higher energy levels, anti-stress etc.) and is an electric green colour. 

3. Dulse. Okay, this one is surely a longshot. Dulse is a dried red seaweed that has ridiculous amounts of calcium, iodine, potassium, magnesium, iron and vitamins. They recommend sprinkling it over soups and salads. 

4. Muscadine grapes. You might struggle to find these guys but they actually contain more antioxidants than blueberries. They claim to protect from certain types of cancer and are a good source of fiber. 

5. Salba seeds. A complete form of amino acids, these seeds are a bit of a miracle snack. They are a superfood I see as being more accessible and easily sprinkled into salads or smoothies or just eaten like nuts. They are from the Aztecs and Mayans who I believe also love a bit of quinoa (also a superfood). 

6. Mangosteens. These might also be a bit of a problem getting out hands on...unless you're in Asia. Apparently they taste really good and are gaining in popularity. The antioxidant count is through the roof and the biggest advantage seems again to be fighting off various cancers. 

7. Teff. Another one that we might actually see pretty soon. Teff is a teensy tiny African grain that you mix into flour for added nutrients when baking. I reckon you could easily stir it into soups or even oats in the morning. It is high in protein, calcium, fiber and iron. 

8. Acerola. Another miracle fruit, this time from Mexico. I'm hoping they start producing Acerola juice as it contains more than 30 times the amount of Vitamin C (necessary to prevent premature aging and great for boosting your immune system) than a glass of OJ. 

Phew, that was quite a post. A little education coming at you today. Who said we just ate and drank and cooked stuff here at Jamie Who? No sir. Let's hope we get to see some of these popping up in health shops in 2010. 

Cheers,

Jamie Who