My favourite fake news headline of 2014 was “Is Corn a Superfood? Sure, Why Not”, not only because it gives me a laugh whenever I think about it, but because it also sums up the general knowledge of the concept of the “Superfood”. It seems that every few months there’s a hot new food that’s guaranteed to help every regular Joe lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. The original superfood, in my mind, was the goji berry craze in 2011, with almonds and almond milk following shortly after, and the tradition lives on in foods such as kale today. Now the problem with many superfoods isn’t that they are secretly unhealthy, though it would be unsurprising if this turned out to be the case for at least one, but it’s the fact that they are marketed as being vastly superior to all other healthy food choices. The superfood flavor of the month, kale, falls into this category of overhyped nutritional babble. Kale does provide numerous health benefits. It’s low calorie and high in various vitamins and protein, but there’s not a lot to separate it from similar greens; at least not enough to call it super. Combine the lack of hard nutritional evidence with the fact that kale is bitterer than a scorned lover, and well, it’s a lot easier to justify eating Popeye levels of spinach instead.
The focus that is currently placed on superfoods is another in a long line of get slim quick schemes that has every advertiser kicking themselves for not getting into the health food game sooner. From fad diets and complex home gym machines to unorthodox workout routines, everyone is looking for that healthy edge to drop pounds quickly. Now, superfoods are certainly more beneficial than any fad diet, mostly because they actually have a health benefit, but they are also another example of people latching onto a way to lose weight while also limiting time spent at the gym. It’s easier to make a kale, blueberry and almond milk smoothie than it is to run a 10k in pursuit of a flat stomach, but it’s important to do both. The trick to eating healthy (it’s simpler than you would think) isn’t seeking out a handful of superfoods to fill your diet; it’s eating a wide range of natural and nutritional foods. As busy as life can seem sometimes, it’s natural to try and find a way to eat properly without sacrificing much time by having to research what foods will give you the most nutritional bang for your buck. Superfoods may seem to be the best way to go, but a wider variety of foods can keep you healthy, your wallet full, and help you feel truly super this semester.
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The Ontarion publishes independent, student-produced news, opinion, and commentary for University of Guelph students so that they can make informed decisions in their lives. To do this, The Ontarion provides learning opportunities and training in journalism, media production, leadership, board governance, and other aspects of nonprofit news.
The Ontarion is the University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper. It began in 1951 as part of the Ontario Agricultural College and then began to represent the entire University of Guelph once it amalgamated in 1964. The Ontarion incorporated in May 1970 as The Ontarion, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered with the province of Ontario.