Superfoods or Superhype?

Any food is generally promoted to a ‘superfood’ status when it has a generous amount of desirable nutrients, disease-killing abilities, and has other health benefits apart from the nutritional value.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a superfood as “a food (such as salmon, broccoli, or blueberries) that is rich in compounds (such as antioxidants, fibre, or fatty acids) considered beneficial to a person’s health.”

Marketing and promotion of the first identified superfood, the banana, originated during World War I when the United Fruit Company started promoting it as being:

1. Cheap and nutritious.
2. Easily digested by the body.
3. Available throughout the year everywhere.
4. Sealed naturally.
5. Good cooked and uncooked.

Later The American Medical Association further promoted bananas to be a staple of a child’s diet, fueling the banana diet craze.