An acai a day

Acai berries are full of mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and are a source of antioxidants.

When you’re feeling a bit under the weather, what do you do first? Do you rummage around for something in your bathroom medicine cabinet, or do you head straight for your fridge? The latter answer may seem a little bizarre, but increasingly an exclusive band of extremely nutritious edibles, known as superfoods, are being promoted as ways to remedy a host of common ills.

As fears about the negative effects of prescribed drugs grow, more and more consumers are trying out these vitamin-rich superfoods – like vile-tasting wheatgrass juice and delicious pomegranates – in the hope that they will not only leave them feeling better, but may also boost their immune systems substantially. Some superfood advocates, for example, assert that berries such as the astringent sea buckthorn may combat free radical stress on the body and thus reduce the risk of cancer.

Few would quibble with the idea that a diet full of vitamin-rich fruit and vegetables is unquestionably a good thing. Nonetheless, many scientists and nutritionists are concerned that unregulated producers and self-appointed diet experts are flogging the public with what is little more than nutritional snake oil. Indeed, the internet is awash with pages claiming miraculous healing properties for unusual foods and supplements, whose scientific backing, on closer inspection, turns out to be incomplete or wilfully misinterpreted. What’s more, there’s the small matter of taste. Many potential superfoods are indeed rich in antioxidants, but taste so awful you can only imagine eating them for a bet. While we all want better health, few of us would relish having our diet colonised by a mob of unappetising wannabe pharmaceuticals. So what are the hottest superfoods currently in circulation, and what are the most palatable ways to consume them? Here’s our guide to the best and the worst.

Raw Cacao nibs

Could drinking cocoa be the way to control hypertension? Panama’s Kuna Indians down up to five cups of the stuff daily and have almost no incidence of the condition, despite consuming substantial amounts of salt. A recent study from the Harvard Medical School suggested that cacao’s high level of flavonols is responsible for the Kuna’s relative healthiness, and may also help combat cardiovascular problems and dementia. Unfortunately, processing cacao into chocolate reduces flavonol levels substantially, meaning if you want to get the maximum antioxidant hit, you should stick to unroasted cacao nibs. Taste-wise, these gritty little chunks are hardly a guilt-inducing treat: they have an oily, earthy bitterness that comes as something of a shock to the taste buds. Still, there’s something about them (their caffeine content perhaps?) that makes them rather more-ish, and they taste reassuringly close to real chocolate when mixed into a bowl cereal or stirred into a jar of honey.

Noni

This strong-smelling South-East Asian forest fruit, sometimes cruelly dubbed “vomit fruit”, is packed with potentially anti-carcinogenic flavonoids and phystosterols, as well as prebiotic polysaccharides which can encourage the production of healthy bacteria in the gut. It has long been used in traditional medicines across the Pacific region but a single sip of Noni juice is enough to explain why the fruit has historically been shunned as a food, except in times of famine. With a thick, faintly salty taste that resembles sweetened blue cheese, Noni juice has an alarming, but not quite revolting flavour which most commercial brands disguise with grape or raspberry flavouring. While not as bad as it sounds, the fact that drinking shots of Noni juice has sometimes been used as punishments for contestants on Mexican game shows suggests that it’s not going to knock orange juice off the world’s breakfast tables any time soon.

Blue-green algae

Controversy rages as to exactly how much good these aquatic plants do for your body. Long eaten in both Central Africa and Mexico, both Chlorella and Spirulina algae are full of protein and B vitamins, and have been demonstrated to reduce tumour size in mice. While this is great news for ailing rodents, detractors suggest that much of blue green algae’s B12 content may not actually be bio-available for humans, and that the plants’ health benefits have been generally exaggerated. Both Spirulina and Chlorella are available as supplements in capsule form, though they are generally sold for far cheaper as a powder to be diluted with water. When it comes to flavour, there’s a significant gap between the two: while Chlorella is sharp-tasting, mildewy and generally pretty nasty, Spirulina has an odd but actually pleasant nutty mushroom taste that works quite well sieved over soups as a garnish.

Goji Berries

These bright orange-red berries have been a major health food fad over the past few years, boosted by press reports that they were popular with that well-known expert on nutrition, Kate Moss. With unusually high levels of magnesium and selenium among their many vitamins and minerals, these Chinese fruit (sometimes falsely marketed as Tibetan) also contain omega 6 and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals. Flavour-wise, they taste rather good: in the dried form they are usually sold in, their sweet flavour sits somewhere between mild cranberry and tomato. Unlike some of the more challenging superfoods, they can be eaten without any other flavouring, though if you find them a little chewy, they work well softened at the bottom of a cup of Chinese tea.

Bee pollen

Some of the claims made for pollen are as wild as a swarm of angry bees. While this combination of honey and raw pollen harvested from hives has been claimed as a powerful antibacterial agent, an energy booster and an anti-ageing tonic, so far scientific backup is rather patchy (though its abundance of B vitamins is proven). This is a pity, as bee pollen is one of the more appetising potential superfoods on the market, its crunchy reddish-gold grains tasting like beads of wax mixed with lemony gingerbread. Though not everyone is a fan of its slight bitterness, it goes well with yoghurt, and for those not on currently on a health kick, it also tastes good sprinkled into water icing for fairy cakes. Needless to say, if you’re allergic to either bees or pollen, steer well clear.

Acai

One of nature’s little jokes, the amazonian Acai berry looks like a luscious dark-coloured grape, but actually tastes like blackberry mixed with smoked fish and Parmesan cheese. Popular with people who believe that anything foul-tasting must be doing you good, this bizarre fruit of a palm nonetheless packs an impressive nutritional punch. While its vitamin C content is relatively low, the pulp of acai (pronounced “ah-sigh-ee”) is full of mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids (accounting for it’s somewhat oily texture) and is one of the best sources of antioxidants of any fruit. While the unadulterated pulp makes for fairly grim eating, acai is a popular flavouring for ice cream in Brazil, and is often used as a minor component of healthy juice drinks.

Amaranth

This obscure and tiny South American grain was once a staple food of the Incas. With an unusually high protein content for plant food, Amaranth is extremely rich in vitamins, while its substantial levels of lysine may make it helpful for muscle repair. Its only snag is that, while it tastes agreeable enough, Amaranth can be rather fiddly to cook with, producing fairly mild results that make you wonder why you bothered in the first place. Perhaps the easiest recipe is to prepare it like popcorn, bursting the little seeds in a hot pan. These can then be mixed in with cereal (they taste a bit like unsweetened puffed wheat), while Mexicans make them into brittle bars with honey and butter.

Raspberries

Believe it or not, there are many ultra-nutritious, immunity-boosting foods out there that don’t need to be foraged for in the Himalayan foothills or the far-flung reaches of the Amazon, and which even taste good enough to eat on their own. The common raspberry, for example, is packed with antioxidants such as quercetin and gallic acid as well as a generous portion of vitamin C and minerals such as manganese. Not only is it one of the most delicious fruits there is, it’s also extremely easy to farm and generally available at prices far lower than your average aspiring superfood. Given its all around excellence, it’s a pity that the fruit generally grows best in cool climates, and is thus is a bit pricey here in the Gulf. Still, it tastes delicious, needs no cooking and packs a potent superfood punch: all of which means it’s surely worth the extra few dirhams.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080527/ART/379329436/-1/SPORT