Written by: Johan Jacobs
Article source: JOY! Magazine
A superfood is a food source that contains higher-than-average nutritional content such as minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, proteins, and essential oils. These foods are considered to be especially beneficial for overall health and wellbeing. It has been proven that our bodies operate better when they are optimally nourished with the appropriate nutrients.
Why should superfoods be incorporated into the diet?
As children grow and adults age – and as a result of exposure to modern harmful variables and chemicals – we need superfoods and their nutrients to sustain health, vitality, and longevity.
Benefits of superfoods:
• Help children to develop to their full genetic potential
• Boosts the immune system
• Accelerates healing and detoxification of the body
• Slows down ageing
• Boosts vitality
• Sustains a strong skeleton
Examples of traditional superfoods:
• Bone broth
• Eggs
• Organ meats
• Cheese (one of the best sources of minerals)
• Bee honey & pollen
• Herbs & spices
• Shellfish
• Sprouts
• Pemmican, a dried meat powder mixed with saturated animal fats and dried cranberries
• Biltong and dry wors
Superfoods for mothers
A mother-to-be needs to be optimally nourished. This will ensure a fertile egg, a healthy foetus, and that her body can grow and feed a baby for nine months. It will also ensure that she is strong enough to deliver her child. After the birth an even bigger responsibility awaits; she needs to produce breast milk for at least 18 months for her growing and developing child.
Breastfeeding
Breast milk is the ultimate superfood for a baby. Research has shown that there is nothing better than a mother’s milk. However, this is arguably one of the most nutrient draining processes in the mother’s body and if she is not nourished properly with the correct selection of superfoods her body will fail to produce enough milk, she will become weaker, and her teeth can also suffer, developing severe tooth decay (to name but a few risks).
Superfoods for a breastfeeding mother
The following is my daily recommendation, over and above Go Natural’s ten point nutritional programme:
1. At least three eggs
2. one good portion of bone broth
3. preferably an organ meat
4. one cup of berries and
5. a big portion of the 3-in-1-anti-ageing snack at night (see recipe in our book).
Include superfoods in your daily diet
I recommend a combination of the traditional superfoods with the known vegan superfoods in your daily diet. Endeavour to eat little to no refined and nutrient sterile foods. In our book we present many recipes that incorporate both traditional and vegan superfoods. Examples include:
1. ‘Puff adder sausage’ – A sausage made with organ meat
2. Traditional bone broth
3. 3-in-1 anti-ageing snack
4. and many more…
Some typical vegan superfoods:
Flaxseeds / linseeds
Flaxseeds are described as a super food mainly because they are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are good for the heart, central nervous system, and the skin.
Baobab fruit powder
The fruit of this tree is extraordinarily rich in minerals and antioxidants.
Brazil nuts
These nuts are known for their high concentration of selenium as a much-needed super antioxidant. Actually, most nut varieties are superfoods. Nuts normally grow on trees, and the trees have deep roots that make the absorption of scarce minerals possible.
Raw cacao
Cacao is very rich in antioxidants; I don’t think there is other fruit on earth that contains so many antioxidants per its size. It is also rich in magnesium, which – among other things – is necessary for the proper functioning of muscles and nervous tissue.
Chia seeds
Chia seeds originate from South America. They contain, among other things, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, fibre, and antioxidants. Unlike flaxseeds, these seeds do not need to be ground in order to utilise their benefits.
Kelp powder
Kelp powder comes from seaweed. It is rich
in essential nutrients and is a particularly
excellent source of iodine that is important for
the functioning of the thyroid.
Goji berries
Goji berries have been used in China and Tibet for many years for their medicinal and nutritional value. These berries are food power stations. They contain essential fatty acids, protein, vitamin C, trace minerals, calcium, zinc, and selenium. I think that most berries are above average in their concentration of antioxidants – certainly higher than most commercial stone fruits or apples and pears.
The list of superfoods is not exhaustive and is constantly growing as more astonishing food types, created by God for us to enjoy, are being discovered.
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Date published: 25/08/2022
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