Super foods

Have you ever heard someone say “if I just won the lottery, everything would be great?” The lottery mindset is the thought process that winning a bunch of money for doing nothing (except buying the ticket) will be the panacea to all life’s problems is seductive and likely will spill over to other areas of thinking in your life.

In terms of super foods, are you always on the lookout for the newest “super food?” Are you convinced that if you ate that “super food” every day you would feel energetic, wake up refreshed, and your midriff bulge would melt before your eyes?

“Super food seekers” have something in common with lottery mindset people that is, there is one answer to life’s challenges. The glittery promises of “big winnings” whether this is cash or effortless weight loss are so seductive that people gladly fork over their money (sometimes lots of money) in the hope that this super food is their personal “magic bullet.”

As a dietitian of over 30 years, I have seen my share of diet wonders and disasters, scientific discoveries and blunders. Over the past decade the marketing machinery that preys on the “lottery mindset folks” has exploited the foods that come naturally enhanced with nutritional gifts that they coined “super foods.”

I am often asked by strangers, what do you think of acai berries, should I add them to my smoothie? What about flax seeds, are they better than chia seeds? I heard that raspberry ketones work for quickly for weight loss so I’m having 6 every day, what do you think?

I think that focusing on one food in the hopes that this will be your “food lottery” and take away your aches, pains, and weight challenges with a daily dose in our cereal bowl or plopped into our morning smoothie is similar to forking over that $2 for the lottery ticket. No promise that you’ll win but the promise that this could be the “one” keeps you coming back for more or looking for other types of lotteries to play (or super foods to buy).

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy when I hear someone is eating any type of fruit or veggies to their diet. What boils my blood is when someone believes that eating the super food blueberries on their morning cereal will ameliorate the bag of chips they ate mindlessly while watching NCIS the night before.

Instead of being on the lookout for the next super food, why not try to just eating the “original” super foods! Yes, I’m talking about unprocessed foods. I’m talking about real fruits and veggies (fresh or frozen) not the dehydrated type; real sweet potatoes (not the type that come out of a freezer bag); or plain non-fat yogurt where you add your own fruit, nuts or seeds.

Yes, this does take a bit more planning but it gets easier, becomes your new habit and the pay-off is a happier you as you see your body respond with a healthier weight. Yes, you can continue to have a “lottery mindset” yet this time you wins are based on your effort so why not go for the mega-jackpot of a healthier body!

What about you? Do you believe that super foods can be the ticket to weight loss, control and maintenance?

In health & happiness,

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With appreciation,

Bonnie