Superfood

Superfood is a marketing term used to describe foods with supposed health benefits. The term is not in common use by dietitians and nutrition scientists, many of whom dispute that particular foods have the health benefits often claimed by advocates of particular food. Catherine Collins, for instance, the chief dietitian at St George's Hospital in London has stated that "[t]he term 'superfoods' is at best meaningless and at worst harmful... There are so many wrong ideas about superfoods that I don't know where best to begin to dismantle the whole concept."

According to Cancer Research UK, "the term 'superfood' is really just a marketing tool, with little scientific basis to it."

The Macmillan Dictionary defines "superfood" as "a food that is considered to be very good for your health and that may even help some medical conditions." The Oxford Dictionary definition states a superfood is “a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being."

The European Food Information Council stated it was impractical for consumers to have a diet based only on presumed superfoods when nutrients are provided readily from a diet using diverse foods, especially including fruits and vegetables.

As of 2007, the marketing of products as "superfoods" is prohibited in the European Union unless accompanied by a specific authorized health claim supported by credible scientific research. The ruling was issued to guide marketing by manufacturers to assure proof of scientific evidence for why a particular food would be labeled as healthy or classified as a superfood.

Possibly the most frequently mentioned superfood group, berries remain only under preliminary research and are not yet certain of providing health benefits. Specifically, blueberries, as a popular superfood example, are not especially nutrient-dense (considered to be a superfood characteristic), having moderate content of only three essential nutrients: vitamin C (an antioxidant), vitamin K and manganese. Blueberries are commonly branded as having a high dose of antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins for which antioxidant properties have been demonstrated only in vitro. However, this antioxidant effect is not conserved after anthocyanin-rich plant foods are consumed. As interpreted by the Linus Pauling Institute and European Food Safety Authority, dietary anthocyanins and other flavonoids have little or no direct antioxidant food value following digestion.

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Wikipedia