Super Human

A toga-clad Hippocrates once declared, "Let food be thy medicine…" It seems that more than 2000 years later, the Australian population hasn’t quite caught on to this concept. According a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO): "Not having a diet sufficient in fruits and vegetable is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and cancers..." WHO estimates that the total worldwide attributable mortality rate could be as high as 2.7 million deaths annually!

The key to good health and longevity is not a secret. It can be grown in your back garden. It can be purchased in a whole or supplement form from your local health food store or fruit and vegetable market. This ‘miracle’ that I am talking about is superfoods which are, basically, foods that are rich in nutrients and/or phytomchemical density (i.e. antioxidants, enzymes and isoflavones).

What’s in store
Leafy greens, dark yellow and orange vegetables, sea vegetables, sprouts, citrus fruits, nuts, seeds, mushrooms and even the humble not-just-a-garnish parsley are just some of the superfoods that haphazardly sit on our refrigerator and store cupboard shelves. Bought with good intention, they are often left abandoned until they’re on their last legs and their health giving properties have all but dwindled away. Enjoying a longer shelf life are soy products. Especially for women, soy helps reduce menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis by mimicking human oestrogen.

If you’re bored with typical vegetables one superfood to include in your diet is kale. Aside from aiding in the detoxification of the liver, Shane Heaton (spokesperson for the Biological Farmers of Australia and operator of freshorganics.com.au) says that kale "has one of the highest antioxidant values of any vegetable, and is especially good for boosting immunity and protecting your eyes."

To utilise this foliage-rich vegetable, Shane recommends that readers "chop raw kale. Add it to a mix of chilli flakes, toasted pine nuts and feta cheese with pasta – then drizzle with olive oil. The warm pasta will lightly steam the kale for you." He suggests that sufferers of thyroid, kidney and gallbladder problems should avoid kale as, like with all brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli), kale’s oxalate concentration can cause side affects.

Renown for its cancer-fighting compounds, another member of the brassica family are broccoli sprouts. Not the most alluring of names, broccoli sprouts have, however, an impressive nutritional profile including beta-carotene, vitamin C, calcium, fibre, and phytochemicals. If that isn’t alluring enough, broccoli sprouts have also been linked to the prevention of one of Australia’s most rapidly rising disease, diabetes – as well as heart disease, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure. Now with the aforementioned in mind, a scientific team (lead by Paul Talalay) at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore (USA) revealed the most captivating fact about this miniscule super food in 1992…

Studies by Talalay and his team were conducted by examining life cycle of a broccoli plant. What they discovered was that broccoli sprouts are high in phase-2 enzyme activity. To translate from the laboratory, this means that when broccoli sprouts are crushed during chewing a compound called sulforaphane is created. This compound inhibits cancer development by encouraging the body to produce its own cancer-fighting substances - detoxifying carcinogens before they sabotage the DNA of cells. To receive the same benefit from mature broccoli you would have to eat a quantity of 20 to 50 times more!

Tasting oddly nothing like broccoli, sprouts are quite neutral in flavour. By adding just 35g of broccoli sprouts to your diet per week is sufficient and tastes great sprinkled over food or added to salads and sandwiches. Sprouting kits are easily locatable online or through health food retailers and are worth the investment. Quick growing, seeds will sprout in three to six days and have a shelf life of several weeks.

Getting Fruity
Relatively new to the Western superfood scene are goji berries and have been embraced by consumers to a point where many health food retailers will tell you that goji berries are their best seller because of their irrefutable health benefits.

Pleasant tasting, they are the perfect snack to keep in your drawer at work (yes, that means out with the crisp and in with the berries…). A handful of "longevity fruit" per day will readily deliver 21 trace minerals, 18 amino acids, linoleic acid (fatty acid), protein, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C and E. So potent are goji berries that, according to the US Department of Agriculture, they’re more than 2,000 times higher in antioxidant potency than spinach! Berries from the Himalayas are generally of a more superior quality as they’ve been grown without being subjected to chemicals and pollution.

Bursting with nutrition, pomegranates are another fruit to be recently recognised for their superfood properties (also available as a juice). Inside of every rich red pomegranate you’ll find approximately 800 jewel-like seeds. Don’t reach too quickly for a spoon to scoop them out; the seeds are the part that you want to eat – not the bitter flesh. Sprinkled over muesli, or mixed with fruits and yoghurt, for the mild annoyance that the odd seed temporarily housing itself in your teeth can cause you’ll be rewarded with approximately 40% of your daily vitamin C requirement and high doses of vitamins A and E, as well as fibre, potassium, iron and antioxidants.

Studies in the US and Israel have come up with evidence to suggest that these antioxidants may help reduce fatty deposits within our arteries and the harmful build up of proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Top up your superpowers
If, for whatever reason, you’re just not getting enough nutrition from your diet then there’s always the route of supplementation. With so many superfood supplements available to consumers - all promising to deliver auspicious results - things often get confusing. As a consumer, look for products that have been created naturally and not synthetically in a laboratory. After all, the nutritional balance of Mother Nature’s bounty is a difficult thing to reproduce with a chemistry set.

Spirulina is the most popular choice when it comes to choosing a supplement for those who lead a gruelling lifestyle, or for those who are dieting. This superfood is in fact a blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) and hails from the Archaean period - some 2.5 to 3.8 billion years ago. Don’t be out off by spirulina’s slimy history, but by the same token don’t go rushing out to skim and bottle your very own pond scum…

Spirulina should only be purchased from a health food store when supplied by a reputable company who harvest from a controlled pond. This ensures that only products that don’t contain poisonous microsystins make their way into your home [levels of microsystins above the WHO’s recommended level have been found in products harvested from fresh lakes and ponds].

Forest green in colour, Spirulina can be taken as a tablet or powder (try blending with your favourite smoothie) and those who do will soon see and feel the enriching affetcs that only 18 amino acids, mega-iron, beta-carotene, calcium, a glycogen boost and high-protein levels can bring. This goodness-dose means energy levels rise, skin glows and eyes regain their childhood twinkle. Internally, cardiovascular function is enhanced, gastrointestinal and digestive health is significantly improved, a healthy cholesterol level is promoted and your immune system is pepped-up.

With slightly less celebrity than Spirulina is another multi-beneficial algae called Dunaliella Salina. As you may have guessed from its name, this unicellular micro-algae thrives in salt water and contains some of nature’s finest cartenoids, antioxidants and vitamins, and can be found all over the world with Australia being one of the largest producers. Extensive research conducted in Japan has shown that as beta-carotene is the predominant antioxidant present within Dunaliella Salina it should be considered in the prevention of cerebral tumours, leukaemia, skin cancer, liver and stomach cancers. This is as the studies have shown that cancer sufferers tend to have a low level of this antioxidant present in their bloodstream.

Day-to-day, Dunaliella works to slow down the aging process by fighting against free radicals whilst boosting the immune system. Healthy skin and eyes are an added bonus.

A Natural High
Another superfood, but with a twist, is the tuberous maca plant. Taking the road less travelled, maca is a native of the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru. Choosing to root itself at an inhospitable altitude of between 12, 500 feet and 14,500 feet, the place that this plant calls home is one where the landscape is rocky, the soil quality relatively poor and the climate is very, very cold. Used as a currency during the time of the Spanish colonisation, the dried root of the maca plant forms a powder and is also known as Peruvian Ginseng and Natural Viagre.

A brilliant source of B1, B2, B12, C and E, minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and iron), nutrients (especially iodine and iron) and protein, maca powder is commonly taken by athletes to increase their stamina, endurance and energy levels. Children take maca supplementation to increase their concentration and aid with the functioning of the adrenal gland; women take maca to increase fertility and to ease menopausal symptoms and menstruation pains; and like women, men take maca to increase libido and also to help balance their testosterone and increase sperm levels. Maca is also especially beneficial for sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome and is the healthy choice for putting the oomph back in your step– unlike other caffeinated products that promise to have you flying with miracle-wings in no time.

When shopping for maca products buy organic and make sure that it’s certified 100% ‘Lepidium peruvianum Chacon’ maca. The recommended dose as a dietary supplement is three capsules, twice a day, (Powder Formula - 1/2 teaspoon, twice daily) or as stated on the product label.

The Power Shot
Speaking of oomph, wheatgrass is brilliant for putting the zeal back into your life that may have been zapped out by too many late nights, lunch-robbing deadlines at work and stress, to name a few.

Wheatgrass first shot to fame in Australia through its introduction by juice bars as an added shot to juice blends. Easily grown at home, the plant’s leaves can be easily juiced or dried as a powder and are an excellent digestive aid. Rich in amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll it is suggested that wheatgrass be taken before eating, when your stomach is not full, for maximum benefit. Just like wheat grass, other superfood supplements to look out for include Peruvian maca powder, chlorella (for flushing heavy metals and pollutants from the body) and barley grass (for those who need to achieve a healthy acid-alkaline balance).

With so many options as to how you achieve your five to nine servings of your medicinal superfoods per day there’s no reason why your health and well-being shouldn’t be at an optimum level. Besides, who wants to keep Socrates waiting another 2,000 years to make his point? Go and eat some superfoods today!

Further Reading
Living Food For Health Book by Dr Gillian McKeith highlights the fundamental superfoods needed for our well-being. Order from www.amazon.com

The Complete SuperFoods Cookbook by Michael van Straten tantalises taste buds with recipes that detail how ingredients benefit our body. Distributed by Hachette Livre Australia.