Superfoods - The 15 Best

Would you like a list of the best superfoods? Superfoods are foods that can do more than normal foods. Superfoods are very special foods. The average consumer almost never eats superfoods – and if they do, then only accidentally or in very small amounts.

15 Superfoods – The List

Looking for a superfood list? Then you have already reached your goal and you will find a list of the 15 best superfoods here. But first, we start with a lot of interesting facts about superfoods!

Superfoods – myth or reality?

Superfoods are foods with properties that make them very different from conventional foods. However, it is not easy for the layperson to recognize what is a real superfood and what is only labeled as such.

Unfortunately, the term “superfood” is often misused for advertising purposes. Even a superfood is of no use if it is only mixed in minimal amounts with an otherwise conventional muesli or an ordinary bar in order to be able to write “superfood” on the packaging.

A superfood only becomes an actually effective superfood if it is regularly integrated into the diet in fairly large quantities.

What is a real superfood?

A true superfood should meet the following criteria:

A real superfood provides a very large amount of one or more nutrients, active ingredients, or vital substances and significantly more than the usual foods.
A real superfood is as natural as possible and comes from organic production or wild growth.
A real superfood is a wholesome and holistic food. A single vitamin or botanical extract can also have a great effect, but it’s not a superfood and could rather be called a dietary supplement.
A superfood does not have to taste delicious to be a superfood.
A superfood doesn’t have to be easy to snack on, and it doesn’t have to be expensive either, as is apparently often assumed of a superfood.
A real superfood can but does not have to, come from far away tropical or arctic regions. Superfoods also grow right on our doorstep in Central Europe, e.g. B. oregano, parsley, nettle, dandelion, home-grown broccoli sprouts, raw sauerkraut, barley grass, and many more.

But can superfoods also heal? Are Superfoods Medicine?

Superfoods are medicine

Yes, superfoods are medicine, but thank God they are not medicines – an important difference, because the latter have to wait for their approval at the great financial expense and after numerous tests. Medicine, on the other hand, i.e. healing foods from nature (= superfoods), are available to everyone and can be used by everyone.

Can superfoods therefore also be used to treat diseases?

Not only can they, but they also must! Superfoods should actually be a mandatory part of every therapy. Because when someone has lost their health, it is even more important to eat the best possible food in order to recover – and superfoods are part of this at the very top.

How Superfoods Cure Disease

Almost all diseases are always associated with excessive oxidative stress, chronic inflammatory processes, and with reduced endogenous detoxification and drainage abilities.

Superfoods have an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and activating effect on the drainage and detoxification organs. There is therefore nothing better when you are ill than a healthy diet made up of many different superfoods that support each other in their effects and often even reinforce them (e.g. broccoli and broccoli sprouts or pomegranates and dates).

This also means that it’s not enough to eat a superfood or two and think it will make you feel alert and healthy. Holistic therapy of any disease involves a great deal. Large amounts of different superfoods are only one component of it.

However, superfoods can only initiate the healing process in combination with an overall high-quality diet made from fresh ingredients that are as natural as possible and in connection with a lifestyle that provides sufficient exercise, healthy sleep, fresh air, relaxation, sunlight, etc.

New studies on superfoods every day

In the meantime, not a day goes by without a study (or several) being published on the overwhelmingly healing and regulating effect of phytochemicals.

Whether against Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart damage, obesity, or cancer, whether for lowering cholesterol levels, promoting the ability to concentrate, improving sperm quality, or strengthening the immune system – secondary plant substances are the activists here! And secondary plant substances are those substances that are found in particularly high concentrations where? That’s right: in superfoods!

Secondary plant substances ensure (of course together with other vital substances) fitness, power, attractiveness, and – if necessary – also for healing. And no, these are not just laboratory experiments with demented cell cultures that remember their names after soaking them in spinach or goji puree.

In the meantime, countless studies have been carried out with human subjects – and these studies are specifically dedicated to the effect of secondary plant substances directly on the human organism. At the same time, secondary plant substances are among those substances that are only found in small and hardly effective amounts in our everyday and usual foods.

Because a breakfast roll with margarine, ready-to-eat muesli with milk from factory farming, ALSI lettuce that has been in the fridge for a week, or Sandliebe fruit quark, not to mention steak, is really not the ideal sources of secondary plant substances.

Are Superfoods Normal Foods?

Occasionally, superfoods – preferred by consumer centers – are referred to as very normal foods. They would only be said to have any miracle effects, for example, a representative of the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center announced.

Yes, superfoods are indeed normal foods. It’s just that they’re no longer normal for modern people. Buns with ham, potato salad with sausages, and pizza with salami are normal foods for him. On the other hand, homo sapiens make fun of dandelions, he doesn’t dare eat nettles, he doesn’t know how to eat pomegranates, he doesn’t like shiitake mushrooms and when hemp comes to mind, he immediately thinks of drugs.

And he can’t be blamed for all of that, since everything is being done – for example by the consumer centers – to keep people right where they are, with schnitzel and fries. There is still a lack of evidence, it is said, and research does not really know whether superfoods are as great as we want to make you understand here.

So just because the superfood critics believe that science is not yet ready to prove to us that the plants and fruits that have been our food for millions of years are also healthy for us, it should be wiser to move away from the products of the food industry life? An industry that has only been around for a few decades?

And then, when we are in the process of thinking about the seating arrangement for the funeral feast of our approaching but unfortunately premature funeral in a number of years, the consumer centers announce that we can finally eat dandelion and saffron because the studies suitable for consumer centers are now also available there?

But perhaps science has come a long way, just not the superfood critics.

Superfruits and Supersedes

Even scientific journals are increasingly publishing articles about the fantastic effects of superfoods – such as B. in this year’s (2015) March issue of Food Technology. The title of the article is “Nine Superfruits and Supersedes”. Superfoods are described in this article as natural and minimally processed foods that have a large number of nutrients and health benefits in store. Chia seeds, flaxseed, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, blueberries and acai berries, tart cherries, avocados, and cranberries are listed.

A few months later, the same magazine published an article on foods and nutrients that may protect the brain from aging. Superfoods were also listed here. After all, it will take a few million years or a number of mutations before Kaiserschmarrn with powdered sugar or Jägerschnitzel with spaetzle can benefit the brain.

So the fact is that it is not worth giving up those foods that are among the 15 best superfoods.

The list of the 15 best superfoods

Start building your meal plan from our list of superfoods today. After four weeks at the latest, you no longer need a scientific study on this topic. Your energy level, your well-being, your performance, and your appearance will have convinced you long ago. We wish you a great appetite!

Superfood: Green Food

Of course, they come first: the green leafy vegetables. This includes:

Wild plants (e.g. dandelion and stinging nettle)
Grasses (e.g. barley grass and spelled grass)
Moringa (you can find all the details about Moringa here: Moringa – A Critical Consideration)
Cultivated green vegetables (e.g. lettuce, spinach, celery leaves)
Garden herbs (e.g. parsley, basil, lemon balm)
Algae (spirulina, chlorella, AFA)

As well as many more that we have listed here: Green Leafy Vegetables for Iron Deficiency
Green leafy vegetables are our primary food. In ancient times man lived to a considerable extent on very large amounts of green matter. It was easy to get hold of by the kilo, filled you up well, and provided almost all the nutrients that humans need: proteins, vital substances, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Today, however, green leafy vegetables are neither among the protein nor the omega-3 suppliers of humans. The leafy greens can’t do anything about it. It’s humans who eat so few leafy greens that those small amounts really don’t help meet macronutrient (protein, fat, carbohydrate) needs.

However, even a small increase in the daily consumption of green food leads to an immediate improvement in health. Not necessarily about the protein and omega-3 content, because this is still very low even with quantities of greens that seem large to us (e.g. 200 grams), but about the unbeatable secondary plant substances, the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and course the ultimate in green leafy vegetables: chlorophyll.

The greens also provide calcium, magnesium, and iron as well as folic acid, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin K in relevant quantities – and in addition in an easily absorbable form.

With a daily green smoothie, a large salad, and a green dietary supplement (e.g. 4 grams of chlorella) you will noticeably benefit from the benefits of green leafy vegetables.

Superfood: cruciferous vegetables

The cabbage vegetables are at home in this group, i.e. broccoli, broccoli sprouts, cauliflower, white cabbage, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, and many more. Cruciferous vegetables also include rocket or mustard (the leaves are delicious). Likewise radish, radish, and horseradish.

Of course, they all also provide plenty of vital substances and secondary plant substances. What is special about this plant family, however, is a very special group of plant substances: the so-called glucosinolates. During the digestive process, these are transformed into anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer substances such as e.g. B. DIM or sulforaphane.

Superfood: Raw sauerkraut

Like any other fermented food eaten raw, sauerkraut provides plenty of probiotic cultures along with the benefits of a cruciferous vegetable. The probiotic cultures in sauerkraut initially have a very positive effect on the digestive system – and not just in the intestines.

The useful probiotics contained in sauerkraut already displace harmful bacteria in the stomach, namely the so-called Helicobacter pylori, which is held responsible for inflammation of the gastric mucosa and stomach ulcers. In the intestine, the sauerkraut then supports the development of a healthy intestinal flora, which in turn leads to the regeneration of the intestinal mucosa and a strengthened immune system.

However, make sure you eat raw sauerkraut. Pasteurized sauerkraut in a bag or jar no longer has any positive effects.

Superfood: Shiitake mushrooms

If you’re going to have a mushroom dish, you’re more and more likely to ignore the pale cultivated mushrooms. Rather reach for the highly effective shiitake mushrooms. Its strong aroma speaks for itself. Additionally, the shiitake mushroom is considered an active anti-cancer food.

Superfood: Almonds

The almond is a perfect small and also basic nut. It matures on a tree with extraordinary abilities. Neither the walnut tree nor the hazel bush can do what the almond tree can – not to mention the tropical walnut species.

In the biting cold of January, it unfolds its blossoms and even if the last downpour before the summer heat falls in February, the almonds ripen and give people their very special power:

A top-quality fat made from mostly monounsaturated fatty acids.
In addition, fiber at its best, namely that is very similar to the fiber of the baobab fruit – equipped with prebiotic properties, which means that they benefit the intestinal flora, donate food and thus ensure a healthy gastrointestinal environment.
In addition, the finest dietary fiber – namely those with prebiotic properties benefit the intestinal flora.
And a lot of vital substances, so even a small portion of almonds per day contributes significantly to covering the magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B requirements, for example.

Superfood: Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are superlative in many respects: Of all plant foods (together with poppy seeds), they provide the most zinc. 50 grams of pumpkin seeds also cover half the magnesium requirement of an adult, and hardly any other food has such a healing effect on the urinary tract, the bladder, and the prostate as pumpkin seeds.

Even urologists advise their patients to nibble pumpkin seeds daily to prevent or cure prostate problems.

Superfood: Papaya

With papaya, you not only have fruit in the house but a small medicine cabinet. Because you should always have the papaya kernels in stock. Just a few papaya seeds a day not only protect against bacterial infections but also against internal parasites or drive them away if they have already established themselves.

At the same time, the papaya seeds help to regenerate and detoxify the liver and should therefore be part of every liver cleanse.

The papaya fruit has similar fantastic effects. However, the more immature it is, the more healing it has. Then it is used in cancer therapy, against gastrointestinal complaints, and for skin care.

There are also healing seeds in grapes, namely the 8th superfood, the grape seeds.

Superfood: Grape Seeds

If you buy grapes, only those with seeds. Seedless grapes are usually much richer in sugar because they are overbred. However, grapes containing seeds not only contain less sugar, but also those secondary plant substances that are hidden in the small grape seeds – above all the famous oligomers proanthocyanidins (OPC).

How strongly they have a rejuvenating effect, how they repair tissue and skin, so that they have long been used for neurodermatitis, psoriasis, but also for allergies, how they also stimulate hair growth, work against cancer, care for the eyes and also help relieve other ailments, which usually plague civilization people.

You can also buy grape seeds in the form of grape seed flour, which you can easily mix into shakes, smoothies, or mueslis.

Superfood: Berries

If you were a time-traveling Stone Age person who ended up in a supermarket in 2015, you would hardly recognize many fruits. Certainly not apples, nor pears, nor citrus fruits, and no strawberries, which are now the size of big fat plums, anyway.

Most of the fruits are now as different from their former wild form as a hybrid laying hen is from a wren. The breeding goals are: always bigger, always more beautiful, always flawless, always longer and storable, and the most important thing: always sweeter. Less important are the vital substance content, the aroma, and the resistance to diseases and pests (there are fungicides and pesticides for that).

However, one group of fruits – with the exception of strawberries – has not been changed quite so much by breeding. And these are the berries. Tremendous powers lie dormant in them. Enormous amounts of antioxidants make berries, in combination with green leafy vegetables, the true health guarantors of our time.

So whenever you can, grab raspberries, blackberries, black and red currants, gooseberries, blueberries, or berries that have been rediscovered in recent years, such as acai, Aronia, and goji.

Superfoods: acerola and camu camu

The acerola cherry, together with the camu camu fruit, is the best all-natural source of vitamin C. Forget the synthetically produced ascorbic acid from the pharmacy. Reach for acerola juice, acerola powder, or camu camu powder. In this way, you will get large amounts of the best vitamin C that you can get.

The fresh acerola cherry provides 1700 mg of vitamin C and the fresh Camu camu fruit on average 2000 mg of vitamin C per 100 g. For comparison: citrus fruits contain around 50 mg of vitamin C. Acerola and camu-camu are not easy to transport in freshly harvested form. They are easily perishable and are therefore offered in powder form. However, the vitamin C content of the powder is often not specified, presumably because it has not been examined either. From the information on the few powders that indicate the content, it is clear that the vitamin C content varies greatly. There is e.g. B. Camu camu powder with only 6000 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, others contain 18200 mg per 100 g.

Vitamin C has so many strong positive effects that you should be perfectly supplied with it.

Also, forget the alleged vitamin C requirement, which official bodies consider sufficient (100 mg). According to orthomolecular medicine, this dose is just enough “so that our teeth don’t fall out”. However, there is hardly anything left for all other functions.

However, our skin, our immune system, our blood, our vessels, the liver, our endocrine glands, and all our other organs and tissues also need vitamin C and are now in a latent vitamin C deficiency and soon in danger of becoming susceptible and ill.

If you look at the diet of a Stone Age man, they could easily have consumed 500 to 1000 mg of vitamin C per day from green leafy vegetables, roots, and wild fruits.

We also have superfoods rich in vitamin C, such as rosehip (1250 mg of vitamin C – although the corresponding powder is then relatively low in vitamin C) or sea buckthorn (450 mg of vitamin C).

The pomegranate, on the other hand, does not provide very much vitamin C, just 10 mg per 100 g. But the superfood pomegranate has other interesting advantages:

Superfood: Pomegranate

He was once Eve’s apple in paradise. And it is not only every single fiery red flower of the pomegranate that is reminiscent of heavenly conditions, but also the delicious taste of its fruit. In addition, pomegranate is a remedy and therefore the first-class superfood.

Two of the best-researched substances in pomegranates are, on the one hand, the polyphenols in the juice and, on the other hand, hormonal substances from the oil of the pomegranate seeds. The latter means that capsules with pomegranate seed oil are often taken for menopausal symptoms. The pomegranate-specific polyphenols, on the other hand, are considered to be massively anti-cancer. In studies, they were effective against breast cancer, prostate cancer, and leukemia. They also inhibit metastasis formation and stop inflammatory processes.

Even those who have high blood pressure could first try a regimen of two glasses of pomegranate juice a day before taking blood pressure tablets: pomegranate juice lowers blood pressure

At the same time, the juice lowers excessive cholesterol levels and reduces arteriosclerotic deposits in the blood vessels. Therefore, the pomegranate – apparently especially in combination with dates – is an excellent and completely natural support for the cardiovascular system: the fruit shake with pomegranate for your heart.

Incidentally, the pomegranate also drives away Candida Albicans, the annoying fungus that likes to cause intestinal problems, skin rashes, vaginal infections, headaches, chronic fatigue, and much more: Pomegranates help with Candida Albicans infections

So whenever you can snag pomegranates, grab them. If you prefer juice, make sure you choose the best quality, i.e. pure and unsweetened pomegranate juice. Since fermented pomegranate juice has proven itself in studies, take this – if available.

A mixture of Aronia berries and pomegranate seeds is also ideal as an ingredient in muesli or as a tasty snack. Incidentally, the ginger goes very well with the pomegranate in terms of taste. Grate some into your pomegranate juice, the resulting aroma is fantastic! Not to mention the additional effect of ginger.

Superfood: Ginger

Ginger should really be mixed into every drink – if you hopefully like it. Whether tea, juice, water, smoothie, or protein drink – ginger goes everywhere!

Incidentally, for ginger tea, simply mix a piece of raw ginger with hot water – done. Such a tea is much more effective than the usual tea recipes in which the ginger is boiled for far too long. Ginger gives momentum, concentration, and freshness. It also drives away nausea and some forms of pain.

Diabetics who eat ginger regularly are also less likely to develop cataracts than diabetics who don’t like ginger. So, ginger seems to protect the eyes. And as is typical for a superfood, ginger also has a strong anti-cancer effect. It reduces the aggression potential of cancer cells and in some cases can even drive degenerated cells to suicide.

Ginger can even be used externally and in the form of ginger oils and ginger, vinegar to work against dandruff and hair loss.

Another superfood that can give your hair a stunning shine: is avocado. Together with olive oil, some honey, and lemon juice, the tropical fruit makes a wonderful hair mask that you leave on for an hour before rinsing it out thoroughly.

Superfood: Avocados

If fat, then avocados – you could say so. Avocados are very pristine fruits and their fat is encased in the fruit completely untouched. In contrast to bottled oil or fat, it cannot oxidize. It gets into your body completely pure and natural.

Of course, the avocado does not increase your cholesterol level and does not contribute to obesity – even though it consists of up to 20 percent fat. On the contrary: According to studies, avocado reduces all risk factors that could lead to cardiovascular problems, osteoporosis, cancer, and inflammation.

Avocados, therefore, fit very well into a healthy diet. The buttery fruits are filling and fit into many dishes. So the avocado ensures that you eat smaller amounts of the usual less healthy fillers (bread, pasta) and also smaller amounts of other fats.

You’ll need less butter (try mashed avocados with a little salt on the bread) and instead of cream, add mashed avocado to the soup after cooking. Avocados also taste at least as good as butter with potatoes. And when you’re making a dressing or dip, avocados can replace the oil or dairy. So before you use a salad oil that is not that good quality, it is better to use a ripe avocado.

Even rich chocolate creams or chocolate ice cream are conjured up from avocados in the raw food scene.

And if you want to add a hearty flavor to your avocado or whatever dish, then grab the last two superfoods: turmeric and oregano!

Superfood: turmeric

Turmeric is the spice that is best used on a daily basis. We have explained how this is best done here: Turmeric – Six tips for correct use. Why You Should Eat or Drink Turmeric Every Day? Very easily:

Turmeric is a highly effective antioxidant and has been shown to help fight cancer (e.g. prostate cancer), supports dental health, and can be used to eliminate mercury. In children, turmeric appears to have protective effects against leukemia. At the same time, turmeric protects against fluoride, which can have numerous negative effects on health – even if it can harden teeth.

The brain benefits from turmeric in particular, as the yellow powder protects it from damage caused by alcohol, for example. But turmeric also seems to have a positive effect on dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Turmeric also heals the liver, prevents gallstones, and is a blessing in diabetes. Turmeric is a valuable home remedy even for sinus infections, as well as for herpes and irritable bowel syndrome. And if you don’t want to eat Indian food today, simply swap turmeric for superfood no. 15, oregano.

Superfood: Oregano

Oregano definitely doesn’t belong only on pizza and in pasta sauce. Oregano is so valuable that you should first grow it – preferably in several pots at once – on your windowsill, on the balcony, or in the garden so that you always have it fresh at hand before you put it in all the dishes that land on your table.

Oregano even tastes great in a green smoothie and it goes well chopped on bread with avocado mousse. Oregano is delicious in a salad, in every burger you make yourself, in every casserole, and in almost every soup.

Oregano will always ensure order and cleanliness in your body. It acts as a natural antibiotic and frees you from uninvited guests in the event of a parasite infestation – ideally together with superfood no. 7, the papaya seeds. Oregano is also one of the natural remedies for fungal infections, and oregano is used internally and externally to treat vaginal thrush.

It is very easy to pack as many superfoods from our list as possible into your diet:

Start the day with ginger tea. If you like, add turmeric.
In addition to lots of fresh berries, add a mix of Aronia berries and pomegranate seeds to your muesli. In addition, sprinkle a spoonful of grape seed flour and baobab fruit powder over it
In the late morning, you can enjoy a green smoothie with plenty of green leafy vegetables including some oregano leaves and a daily dose of acerola powder.
Her salad dressing for lunch is seasoned with horseradish (a cruciferous vegetable) and a vegetable made from broccoli, another type of cabbage, or the shiitake mushroom. The rice is seasoned with turmeric.
In the afternoon, drink a glass or two of pomegranate juice.
On the wholemeal bread in the evening comes avocado mousse with oregano. A portion of raw sauerkraut served with a spoonful of hemp oil.
And whenever you feel like a snack, nibble on pumpkin seeds, almonds, and a spicy papaya seed in between. Or you fill the papaya seeds in your pepper mill and use them to “pepper” your food.

Have fun trying it out and be healthy!