The REAL Top Super Foods!
So we’ve all heard that kale is the most amazing super duper food that will cure all of our ills, help us through that yoga class, replenish us after a deep-tissue massage and generate world peace, right!? But, did you know that there are other foods out there that actually pack a bigger nutritional punch than the sacred leafy green? Our friends over at MindBodyGreen produced a list of the top 10 superfoods (of which kale certainly has a place), and taught us how to score them. You can read the full article here.
The foods were given a score which is attained by focusing on 17 nutrients considered by the food experts at the United Nations and the Institute of Medicine to be important to good health and to lowering risk of heart disease and cancer: potassium, fiber, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and K. Then calculating how many nutrients they contained per calorie of energy they provided (based on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet); the higher the value, the more of a powerhouse food it was.
Bringing up the bottom of the top 10 was collard greens with a score of 62.49. Still far better than white grapefruit which only scored a 10.47! Romaine lettuce surprised me with a score of 63.48 and leaf lettuce was at 70.73. Not bad for a leaf! Bad news for the kids at your dinner table, but spinach rocked the score with an 86.43 and Chinese cabbage also scored big at 91.99. The top of the heap was watercress with a perfect score of 100! I think it is time to hit the farmer’s market!!