This was a really fun piece to write because it let me talk to some of the smartest people I know, like my co-author of Fuel Your Ride Nanci Guest and Matt Fitzgerald (who has a new book that I am stoked to check out). It also let me preach this big concept that we underscored frequently in Fuel Your Ride: there’s no superfood that’s going to make up for an otherwise crappy diet. And that makes the whole ‘superfood’ concept a worrisome one.
Nutritionists really, truly hate the term ‘superfood.’ It bounces around from trend to trend: first it was chia seeds, then it was dark chocolate, sometimes it’s wine. What nutritionists want you to know, though, is that no one food is super: they all have value, and the danger of believing in a superfood is that you’re missing a whole lot of other equally heroic options.