In the wake of the sweeping current of veganism, gluten free, soy free, and allergy friendly food accommodations, the term "superfood," I am sure, has crept up on you at least once.
This term is used to refer to certain whole foods with elevated levels of vitamins, minerals, and overall health benefits. Yes, these foods, are full of nutrients, but does that constitute them as "super?" Should we really be referring to these foods as superior to others, or is this term just a propaganda technique to entice people to eat healthier?
The term "super" when in reference to food includes treats like quinoa, sweet potatoes, chia seeds, berries, oatmeal, almonds, kale, avocado, spinach, broccoli, and more.
Basically, this term encompasses any food item within the fruit, vegetable, whole grain, and legume spectrum -- food items which an average human should be consuming on a daily basis.
With the late 1900s and early 2000s heightening the influence that artificial and processed foods have on society, all natural, plant-based, whole-foods are labeled even healthier and beneficial than ever before.
However, this puts me off a tad, because these whole-foods should not be something labeled as "super" or superior or magical or miraculous.
They should be labeled simply as they are: food. Real food. Natural, plant-based, wholly good and good for you food.
The processed junk that antagonizes these health food titles should not even constitute as food. It is so chemically skewed in the factory process of creation that humans are essentially feeding themselves excrement, there is no nutritional value within these foods whatsoever, and the ingredients within these products are actually more harmful to a person's health than the deliciousness of the sugar bombs might suggest.
Because an average American diet consists of mostly artificial ingredients, real foods are turning a phenomenon.
The amounts of natural benefits and nutrients of whole grains and fruits and veggies baffle the current citizens who know too little about them to consume them.
The rise of veganism is prompting a certain knowledge about these foods though. The benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet are wedging their way further and further into food research and are slowly but surely influencing the consumer culture of the American diet.
Yes, the term "super" in the precession of "food" is a term of inflation used to entice the uneducated consumer, but the term is almost necessary to persuade people to fuel their bodies properly.
Hopefully one day America will cease the processed and artificial food industry, hopefully, one day the processed and artificial crap I cannot even call food will cease to exist at all.
Hopefully one day the "superfoods" of the world will finally earn their place at the dinner table as simply food. Yes, persuasion is necessary in the face of ignorance, but the truth is that these super foods are really the general foods that Americans should be consuming on an average day. They are not super, they are real.