What’s a superfood?
There’s no scientific definition of a superfood, and the term itself is somewhat controversial.
In fact, some nutritionists and dietitians believe that the word shouldn’t be used at all. They argue that labelling some foods as ‘super’ will make other foods appear less appealing or worthwhile. Since variety is the key to a nutritious, balanced diet, they’re concerned that some people might favour ‘superfoods’ and exclude other foods from their diets altogether, leading to an excess of some nutrients and a shortfall of others. The term has even been banned on food packaging in some countries.
Nevertheless, ‘superfoods’ is a word that’s used quite commonly by the general public, and it doesn’t look like going out of fashion any time soon.
People everywhere are becoming more and more aware of the fact that some foods are inherently detrimental to their health - especially those that are heavily processed, packed with artificial flavours or colours, laden with saturated fats, deep-fried or largely comprised of refined carbohydrates.
With such foods becoming recognised as the villains of the food chain, it stands to reason that others are gaining a reputation as nutritional superheroes!
If one of the criteria for being a superfood is delivering a huge nutritional hit in a small serve, acai berries are king of the crop. They’re one of the world’s richest sources of a group of antioxidants called anthocyanins and proanthocyanins, which are also found (in much smaller quantities) in blueberries and red wine.
Those precious antioxidants mean that the acai berry will help keep your cells in tip-top shape and protect them from free radical damage. You can read more about the importance of antioxidants for skin health here, but beneath the surface they’re also vital for the health of your heart, blood vessels and reproductive system.
To qualify as a superfood though, it’s not enough to be a potent source of one particular group of nutrients. Other nutritional benefits should be present as well – such as being low in calories, providing valuable fibre, vitamins and minerals, and being a good source of healthy fats. The Acai Berry tick all these boxes – and if your brand of choice is RioLife Freeze Dried Acai powder, they’re 100% certified organic too!
It’s virtually impossible to access fresh acai berries in Australia because they spoil too quickly to get here from the Amazon in good shape. But that doesn’t matter, since freeze-drying the berries concentrates their nutritional goodness. In fact, each 5 gram serve of freeze-dried acai berry powder contains the equivalent of 345 dehydrated acai berries, and supplies the same levels of antioxidants as around 120 blueberries.
