Not all superfoods are backed by science. Some superfoods are overhyped and overpriced.
Save your money and support your health by avoiding the superfoods below. They’re not as “super” as the internet has told you.
Cold-Pressed Juices
Cold-pressed juices are trendy and expensive. You can find them at health food stores and juice bars around the world. Some even make their own juice at home with high-end juicers.
Cold-pressed juices certainly aren’t bad for you. However, they’re not as good as many people think.
When you drink cold-pressed juice, you’re getting similar ingredients to regular juice: you get a lot of sugar and some vitamins and minerals, but not much more.
Most experts agree it’s better to eat the whole fruit, including the skin, flesh, and seeds of the fruit. It’s the way nature intended. When you eat fruit whole, it gives you fiber to fill you up and delay the absorption of sugar into your body.
Cold-pressed juices are trendy – but they’re not much better for you than ordinary fruit juices, and you’re probably better off taking whole fruits instead.
Acai Berry
Acai berry, like other overhyped superfoods on this list, isn’t necessarily bad for you – but it’s not as good as people think.
Acai berry is rich with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
However, acai berry is not much more nutritionally relevant than berries you can easily buy at a local supermarket. It has similar antioxidant content to:
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Cranberries
You can buy the berries above at a fraction of the cost – and enjoy similar benefits to acai berries.
Goji Berries
Goji berries occupy a similar space to acai berries: people throw around words like “antioxidants” and “nutrient-dense” when talking about goji berries.
However, there’s little evidence goji berries can reduce the risk of cancer, boost immunity, or improve cardiovascular health, among other benefits commonly advertised online.
In fact, many of the studies on goji berries come from studies on special goji extracts – not the berries themselves. These extracts are the equivalent to eating thousands of goji berries at once – and it’s not realistic to connect those benefits to adding a few goji berries to your smoothie each morning.
Coconut Water
People who drink coconut water love to talk about its hydrating properties.
Some people claim coconut water cures or prevents hangovers, for example. Others drink coconut water during or after a workout.
However, there’s little evidence suggesting coconut water has better hydrating properties than ordinary water.
Coconut water is also rich with sugar: each 8oz serving has 2 to 3 teaspoons of sugar and around 50 calories. If you’re looking to stay hydrated without the filler content, then water is a better choice than coconut water.
Wheatgrass
Have you ever taken a wheatgrass shot? You may have heard about the benefits of taking ingredients like chlorophyll. Someone might have told you about how wheatgrass is rich with vitamins A, C, and E along with minerals like iron, calcium, and magnesium.
Wheatgrass, like other so-called superfoods on this list, isn’t necessarily bad for you – but it’s not as good as people think.
The biggest problem with wheatgrass is that chlorophyll has no known nutritional value in humans.
Yes, wheatgrass is packed with vitamins and minerals – but so are multivitamin supplements and thousands of other fruits and vegetables.
Until science tells us there are specific benefits linked to the chlorophyll in wheatgrass, wheatgrass will continue to be an overhyped superfood deserving of its place on this list.
Kombucha
Search online for “best superfood drinks” and kombucha is sure to appear. Kombucha is a type of fermented black tea.
According to people online, kombucha is linked to benefits like:
- Detoxification
- Immune support
- PMS relief
- Energy
- Digestion
That all sounds good. Unfortunately, however, there’s little concrete evidence linking kombucha to these claims.
In fact, most studies suggest ordinary teas like black or green tea – can provide superior benefits to fermented teas like kombucha. These teas are backed by thousands of studies – and centuries of use – linking them to heart health, immunity, and longevity.
Nevertheless, it’s not all bad news for kombucha drinkers: recent studies have found fermenting black and green tea can enhance its antioxidant properties. However, more human trials are needed to verify any of the benefits listed above.
It’s true kombucha, like other fermented foods, has probiotic bacteria. However, the levels of probiotics are smaller than you would get in yogurt, kefir, and other easy-to-find foods.
Certain Milk Alternatives
Milk alternatives are more popular today than ever before. Many people take nut or soy milk daily, for example, to enjoy non-animal sources of milk.
However, most milk alternatives are different than people realize. A typical nut or soy milk, for example, contains just 2% of the active ingredient. The rest of the beverage consists of water, vegetable oils, sweeteners, and additives. These additives enhance shelf life and flavor, but they do little for the nutritional value.
Consider making your own milk alternatives at home. You can enjoy all of the benefits of milk alternatives – with none of the additives or sweeteners.
Final Word
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
Some superfoods are backed by science, proven to work, and linked to genuine benefits.
Other superfoods are overhyped, overpriced, and overused.
