Quinoa, chia, goji and acai.Until a few years ago, not many people could claim to know what these really were.But today we have steel control over which superfoods can do what for both body and health.According to the British newspaper Daily Mail, a full 61% admitted in a survey carried out by the British Dietetic Association (BDA) that they had bought a product or food simply because it was labeled as "superfood."So what exactly is a "superfood"?And how great is that, really?- In fact, there is no definition of superfood, it is simply just food - with a serious marketing budget behind it, explains nutritionist Ian Marber to the Daily Mail.- It helps sales when the food in question comes from a distant, exotic place, and has been "used by the indigenous population for thousands of years".These products tend to have a pretty hefty price tag, which only makes them even more tempting.Doctor, researcher and professor of nutrition at the University of Oslo, Christian A Drevon, agrees.- There are countless claims that superfoods are so particularly healthy, Drevon explains to Kvinneguiden.- The vast majority are completely undocumented.Trine Berge is one of the founders behind the company Supernature and is also a raw food chef, lifestyle guide, author of the book "Supermat" and runs the blog Superdamebloggen.no.She believes there is a lot of confusion around the concept of superfood, and firmly believes that real superfoods are a fantastic addition to the diet otherwise.- Superfoods are edible plants that contain an extremely high and broad-spectrum nutrient content, explains Berge to Kvinneguiden.- Many of the raw materials have an impressive nutritional content.Superfood is food and medicine in one.- There are several studies which today indicate that the fruit and vegetables that you find in our daily diet have far less nutrition than just 50 or 100 years ago due to the way we cultivate and that the soil is depleted.Berge explains that in normal agriculture, artificial fertilizers are mostly used which hardly contain the minerals and trace elements that the soil needs to grow more nutritious food.Superfood must be grown under optimal conditions, for the whole - i.e. both the food plant and the soil.- The superfood must also not be processed in any way that reduces its quality and nutritional content.This will possibly knock your expensive skin cream into the boots.Despite a lot of attention and focus now, the superfood phenomenon is not as recent as many might think.- Superfood as a diet and food products have emerged from very health-conscious people as a kind of subculture especially in the last 40-50 years, explains Berge.- And as a counter-reaction to the fact that the usual food that was sold was becoming more and more nutrient-poor and processed.Berge explains that they have been looking for food plants that other cultures and indigenous people have used and which are very nutritious.- Spirulina algae, which is one of the most famous and popular superfoods and it is believed that the Aztecs in Mexico used it as a food source.The Aztecs are also said to have used a lot of raw cocoa and chia seeds.And within Chinese medicine, you will see that goji berries are very popular.And slowly but surely, Berge believes that the West and our leaders in medicine and health will open their eyes to the properties of these foods.- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN have recognized the spirulina algae as a food plant that is very nutritious and have recommended spirulina as a safe food for children.Based on this, spirulina is now added to food in several aid projects in developing countries.Berge also confirms that more research and studies on superfoods are taking place internationally.Despite the fact that superfoods are not currently a scientifically defined group of foods, there is much evidence that the foods in question are both healthy and have a high nutrient density.But not everyone has the same belief that it is better to bet on superfoods than Norwegian and local fruit and vegetables.- When it comes to superfoods, people like to talk about foods that have an exceptionally positive health effect, explains nutritionist Gunn Helen Arsky to Kvinneguiden.- Preferably far beyond what the pure nutrients in the food give us in terms of vitamins, minerals, healthy fatty acids or proteins.Foods that are referred to as superfoods often also have many other active substances in addition to vitamins and minerals.- Antioxidants are perhaps the largest group of such substances, Arsky explains.- But don't drop healthy, Norwegian food and a good and varied diet in favor of nutritional supplements and powders.Because while health food sales of pills with superfood extract are booming, new research shows again and again that it is the effect of whole foods, not pills and powders, that have the most positive health effect.Drevon completely agrees, and believes that superfoods can quickly end up taking the focus away from what really matters.- Namely to have a healthy and balanced diet.Eating superfoods is not an obstacle to having a normal healthy diet, says Berge.The food that sharpens your brain.- It is important to point out that those of us who are concerned with superfood do not limit ourselves in any way to just superfood, but are generally very concerned about eating healthy and nutritious food of high quality, emphasizes the lifestyle guide.- And I always recommend eating varied, organic and as much vegetables as possible.So this is not a powder cure where you stop eating other healthy food, quite the opposite.My experience is that this is a positive spiral where one either is or becomes more aware of diet and lifestyle.Berge believes that we in Norway should be particularly good at superfood because we live where we live.- We live in a country where we cannot grow fruit and vegetables for large parts of the year, explains Berge.- So what we find in the shops has often been in storage for a long time and thus also less nutritious.And you don't have to go to health food stores or other specialist stores either.Some superfoods are guaranteed to be found at the convenience store.- Blueberries are a superfood, but then we're talking about the type of blueberry that we find in the Norwegian forest and that you turn blue from eating.Sprouts are also a superfood and kale is also considered a superfood, so it is possible to find superfoods both growing in Norway and also in the store.Clinical nutritionist Tina Hamelten believes that there are many claims surrounding this superfood, and believes that first of all it must be seen as a global healthy change that more and more people are becoming more concerned with food and eating healthy and nutritious.- It's nice that someone can bear to be a locomotive and start a change, Hamelten explains to Kvinneguiden.- And it is also important to remember that nothing changes in the world if someone does not have a vested interest in a change taking place.Very few have the guts to market something or try to change other people's behavior if they do not profit themselves, that is, they make good money from other people changing their behavior.There are many good products out there that are marketed as superfoods, says Hamelten.- But the problem lies in the fact that many people may be blind to everything these products promise, and forget to think that there is actually someone behind them who ultimately aims to make money.The nutritionist explains that she does not believe that the products are not good, but is rather skeptical of the enormous marketing and thus the influence behind this wave:- Real knowledge about what is true about health can be drowned in the fierce marketing from those who somehow have a strong incentive and drive to market their products to get us to spend our money on their products.That's the simple truth about superfoods, in my opinion.Hamelten thinks that super food can be great, but instead strikes a blow for Super Food.- And there is so much of that, reveals the nutritionist.- Food that tastes good, food that is healthy, food that has many effects in the body.This food that sits quietly in the freezer or vegetable counter, which we have no idea can do so much good for the body.Did you know, for example, that the blackberries in the freezer can help you make the liver more efficient at detoxifying the body?Hamelten explains that she has long bought mulberries from an immigrant shop in Oslo.- But after someone defined these as superfoods and started selling them in health food stores, the package size was significantly reduced and the price exploded compared to what I was used to paying for the berries.Precisely because someone had put "super" in front of "food".To make up for insufficient nutrition, Hamelten believes that you can invest in superfoods, but just as well in good old-fashioned healthy food.- Of course, many people will be able to feel an improvement when they suddenly start adding larger amounts of nutrients to the body, explains Hamelten.- It does not have to be about these specific products, but a deficient diet from the past and an improvement of this.The nutrients could just as well have come from other sources.I'm not saying that people can't notice an improvement, I'm just saying that it could have come without these products, if you just change your diet in a positive direction.- Goji berries are marketed as a berry packed with antioxidants.But whether these antioxidants help the body more than antioxidants from other berries is unlikely.Do you know that multitasking is dangerous?Eat this before you go to workGuess which one gives you the best skin?This case was first published on 19/11 2014, and last updated on 30/04 2017