I'm not talking about cacao, cos I don't personally consider that a healthy food (no matter how much anyone tells me it's full of antioxidants and minerals etc, it just makes me feel bad!!)

but I am always undecided about the other 'stuff'... the algae, the crystal manna, vitasynergy green, NFL powder, maca, MSM... etc etc the list is endless... sometimes I think it's all a load of marketing hype and I could do better spending my money on good quality organic food etc... but then sometimes I get into the whole vibe of it and buy all this stuff...

would be interested to know your thoughts



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I think your instincts are right - it's a load of marketing hype imo.

Lovely fresh whole foods are superfoods - a pill in a pot is not

my speciality lol, what ones do you want to know about specifically?

maca is a decent herb but i prefer jiaogulan as it has more sterols and thus more benefits on the heart/circulation, adrenals/endocrine, hormonal balance and so on.

algae such as spirulina is decent. Most of these products come cheap as a powder as do herbs, nettle is like 2-3£ for 100g you only need half a teaspoon its when manufacturers start wrapping them up in fancy bottles that most of these things get expensive.

I would like to cast my vote for Sun Chlorella from
All Star Health. I take the granules in Green Smoothies, and
6 big tablets with Carrot Juice. They're pretty expensive at
$1/serving, but I believe in them.....WY
P.S. I have bought on eBay for better prices.

[www.allstarhealth.com]

i think its a bunch of over hyped over priced crap what will be the next *superfood* we all wait on the edge of the chair and wait ... this marketing game has been playing out for the last 100 years

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I dont know what is a better super food other than what you grow right in your own backyard,without chemicals,and pick and eat within an hour or so...

Vinny

msm methylsulfonylmethane could be helpful if you had an injury of sorts and tears in your connective tissue etc.

i once had maca and felt like a mac truck ran over me LOL

but hey.. other people have done fine with it so it kind of boils down to how it makes YOU feel

right DMZ??

I think superfoods are FRESH RIPE fruits and vegetables. Nothing dried or packaged.

maca is a legitimate adaptogen, helps recovery of the adrenal system.

The label superfood doesn't mean anything to me. Some vendor's market ploy neither adds nor detracts from value of the food/supplement. It's case by case. I have no use for bee pollen or honey as they are not vegan. Some people swear by them. No argument other than if you use them, you are not vegan. Vegans by definition do not use animal products.

Paul

just because something is dried doesnt make it useless, most if not all herbs have to be dried to crack their cell walls.

thanks for all your thoughts guys

powerlifer - I wasn't asking about any in particular really, just curious to know how people felt whether there were any benefits to 'buying imported dried superfoods'..
that's interesting about having to dry herbs.. so, if I go pick nettles to make tea with, it's best that I dry them 1st?

I love to pick wild greens and leave them in a jar of water in the sunlight, feels like they really 'liven up' the water. kind of like a sun tea, although of course it's not heated really so there's not much taste.



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Yeah their best dried first to crack the cell walls like i say lisa, i do have a fair amount of organic nettle leaf is anyone is interested.

nice one on the picking wild greens, i dont know if you seen my other thread but are you from glasgow? im in dundee myself.

pborst
"maca is a legitimate adaptogen, helps recovery of the adrenal system."

I suspect that I have adrenal exhaustion, via some health quiz I took on another site. Of course they gave a possible diagnosis, and a list of supplements to take...naturally that they supply. I don't recall if maca is suggested. What else might be good? What about general health habits for adrenal health?

I think that some superfoods really are super, but really over priced for what they possibly could deliver. Some probably do nothing at all. Potentially a few could actually be dangerous.

I tried Gynostemma pentaphyllum in tea form, because I heard of the benefits. But I stopped using it because it started irritating my stomach. I actually never considered this a food.

I tried Chlorella, and love that. Now I consume spirulina because its more widely available, and now pretty cheap. I eat goji berries when I really start to feel a craving for them.

I consider extremely fresh miners lettuce to be super. Especially when provided trace minerals. I say that because I felt a particular lift after consuming them and making a salad. Picked and eaten within minutes! totally awsome. It may not do that for everyone however.

Fresh osoberries did something for me as well, although I have never read of them as being particularly rich in anything. I predict that crowberries will sometime in the future become the next superfood to have. That is if people continue to respond to superfood marketing, and orac values. And of course if someone develops a commercial production of them.

Mislu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pborst
> "maca is a legitimate adaptogen, helps recovery of
> the adrenal system."
>
> I suspect that I have adrenal exhaustion, via some
> health quiz I took on another site. Of course they
> gave a possible diagnosis, and a list of
> supplements to take...naturally that they supply.
> I don't recall if maca is suggested. What else
> might be good? What about general health habits
> for adrenal health?

Here is my article on adrenal fatigue: [www.juicingforum.co.uk]

jiaogulan is better than maca as it has much more sterols thus more benefits.

I am intersted in learning more about adapagen herbs. I have been googling them and if what is claimed is true then I think they will help me.

Are there any scientific studies that you could point me to - Powerlifer?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2010 02:08PM by flipperjan.

there are many indivdual studies on some the benefits of adaptogen herbs such as ashwagandha, licorice, schizandra, jiaogulan and so on med sites such as pubmed.

they are some of my favorite herbs adaptogens.

Hi Powerlifer, yes I'm in Glasgow *waves*



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I think some are moderately useful, do they work miracles, NO.

waves back, nice one never expected another scotlander on here .

pretty much most of them are good foods, do they have the miraculous benefits that the MLM sites put out most likely for most they dont. But as part of your routine they can be great.

Wheatgrass fresh is a brilliant food, is it super well depends on the definition, it has high levels of protein per weight, rich in vitamins minerals and phytonutrients. Does it cure cancer well thats debabtable.

That was a helpful article on adrenal fatigue. I think that is very accurate. Information from chinese medicine also sounds similiar. The some of the herbs you mention are boiled or at least soaked in very hot water. Is there a benefit in consuming them whole an fresh? Are they all even available in the fresh form?

Are they all safe to consume in whole raw form? ashwagandha is traditionally prepared in boiled milk, from what I recall in Indian medical commentaries. As for the other herbs, I don't know. Some herbs and medical substances require special processing, or combined with other substances to make them not toxic. I am only commenting on that as this is a raw forum, so its good to be aware of these things.

For example, I once went to a restaurant which had Tulsi or 'holy basil' in it. Whole leaf tulsi used somewhat like 'basil'. I guess they thought they were being clever in dropping the 'holy'. Well, I later discovered that tulsi is traditionally never chewed, as its believed to damage the teeth. In tea form its good, healthy but not too frequently consumed.

"Superfoods don't go bad because they've already gone bad"
-Doug Graham

I think when a lot of people go raw, they let superfoods pushers take the opportunity to piggyback or "cash in" on their raw momentum and healthy enthusiasm.. so the person simultaneously cleans the crap out of the diet, starts living healthier, starts eating power-packed "normal" natural amazing raw foods, .. and buys into some superfoods because some healthy-looking charismatic salesman convinced them. Then when their health inevitably improves from the aforementioned positive changes in their life, they may be convinced that the superfoods were a big factor and are thereby roped into continued purchases, when in reality they probably weren't especially beneficial.

Whole fresh ripe raw organic plants. Grow your own if possible, make your own compost. Get plenty of sunlight, rest and clean water. It really is that simple.

If it is not a fresh it is not to Super to me its lost all its value.
I think Rawpeston said it best.

Whole fresh ripe raw organic plants. Grow your own if possible, make your own
compost. Get plenty of sunlight, rest and clean water. It really is that simple.

Cherimoya,
Love Peace and Happiness,

that is nonsense cherimoya as i already said many foods have to be dried to crack there cell wall.

Mislu thanks, some can be consumed fresh but others as the above have to be dried. Yeah ashwagandha is traditionally put in a little milk but its fine just on the tongue, capsule or in some water/juice.

if thats what doug grahams quote is like then i fear for the rest of his knowledge and book.

powerlifer,

The OP is asking for our personal opinions, so no one is more right or wrong than anyone else. Plenty of people thrive without superfoods or supplements at all. While you may consider them essential, another person is free to consider them unessential, right?

course and im entitled to my opinion that if hes drumming out that then he doesnt have a clue.

supplements are supplements, if you have a problem you use them, otherwise you dont really need them unless you wish to enhance your health in some way. Just because something isnt fresh doesnt mean its useless. I dont like the way superfoods are marketed but. "superfoods dont go bad because they already have" is just something that makes no sense, what foods or supplements is he referring to with that quote?

powerlifer,

Yes, you are entitled to your own opinion, including the judgment and criticism of others. However, when people share their judgment and criticism of others on this forum, it lowers the energy or vibration of the forum, that is, it makes the forum a less friendly and safe place to visit, because people see that members here are judgmental and critical of other people.

What I encourage members here to post about is their personal experience of what works for them, rather than criticizing and judging what others are doing.

Its been my own personal experience that I have excellent health the last 8 years on a 100% raw vegan diet without supplementation. What I have noticed is that some diets produce excellent health and people don't feel like they need supplementation, while other diets don't result in excellent health without the use of supplements.

Also, its one thing to spend 1 to 2 dollars a months on a B12 supplement, versus spending $200 to $1000 a month on all the raw food superfoods and supplements that have become the trend in the raw food marketplace.

ok no probs but when people are commenting anything other than fresh is useless im just meant to agree?

powerlifer,

You don't have to agree that what someone is doing will work for you. But let it be OK for it to work for them, or if perhaps if it might not work, allow them to have their own experience if they so choose. For me, it is though making mistakes for myself that I find I have the greatest learning.

Because you don't respond to what someone else if doing with their diet does not mean you agree.

And I encourage you to share with the forum what works for you, and share your personal experiences that led you to do what you are doing.

The sharing of personal experience is way more valuable that sharing information you learned about in books or from other people.