Here are 15 foods at the top of the superfood chain, along with their recommended daily values (DV) from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. “The varieties in color indicate different nutrients that confer some sort of health benefit - the more diverse your diet, the better.” “There are tons of different kinds of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables,” she says. While these foods are healthy and may possess nutrients other foods don’t have, Taylor Wolfram, RD, who runs a private practice based in Chicago, Illinois, says the healthiest diets are diverse and balanced - not ones based on "superfoods” alone. RELATED: 9 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About BananasĪcai berries, avocados, and blueberries are other examples of foods that have risen to superfood status, with health benefit claims that include reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease.
More than 90 years later, bananas continue to be in the top three most imported fruits in the United States.
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In the 1920s, the United Fruit Company ran a series of colorful ads on the health benefits of bananas, research detailing the benefits of bananas was published, and soon the tropical fruit became the first food labeled a superfood, according to the Harvard T.H. The superfood trend dates back almost a century, and may have all started with a banana. Between 20, there was a 202 percent increase in global sales of products marketed as “superfoods,” “superfruits,” or “supergrains,” according to the Mintel Global New Products Database.
Despite the lack of evidence backing the touted health benefits of superfoods (in 2007, the European Union banned using "superfood" on labels that didn’t have a health claim, which was “clear, accurate, and based on scientific evidence”), that hasn’t slowed superfood sales. Some foods are so nutritious it may seem like they have superpowers, but outside the marketing world, there actually is no such thing as a superfood - by scientific standards, at least. When you hear the word superfood, what comes to mind? A carrot in a cape? A nectarine with night vision?