Are superfoods always safe?
Are superfoods always safe? In the first video of the final week, we discuss some reasons why this might not always be the case. Some superfoods, like kombucha, might be …
Course: Superfoods: Myths and Truths
What are Dietary Reference Values?
There has been much discussion around the difference (or the lack of) between the nutritional content of some “traditional” foods versus “superfoods”. To fully understand what impact these nutritional differences …
Fruit powders
Superfoods are often fresh fruits and vegetables. However, in some cases, the cost both of transporting and refrigerating fresh fruits for extended periods of time can be high, both in …
What are Superfruits?
In our introduction to flavonoids, we briefly mentioned some foods that are routinely labeled as superfruits, such as berries. “Superfruits” often get their label due to their content of micronutrients …
Herbs and spices: a different kind of superfood?
The word “superfood” is very likely to evoke images of fruit or vegetables. However, there is another class of food items whose members are characterized by high levels of bioactive …
Introduction to week 4
In the first activity of this week we will present more food categories that could be considered superfoods: herbs and spices and dry fruit powders, along with other some “superfruits” …
Conclusion and goodbyes
Congratulations, you have reached the end of the course! In this course we have explored topics linked to superfoods: we started by defining what superfoods are and what they are …
What are Antinutrients?
However, in recent years a term that was previously confined to technical literature started to appear in health magazines and websites. This term is antinutrient. The definition of antinutrients includes …
What comes next: week 4
During the first three weeks of this course we have discussed different aspects of superfoods. For instance, we have described their nutritional properties, their effect on the brain and cognitive …
Do Omega-3s Improve Brain Function?
Beyond flavonoids: can omega-3s improve our brain health? In the previous two videos we have seen that the studies investigating the effects of flavonoids on the brain and cognition are …
Flavonoids effect on the brain
Do flavonoids have an effect on the brain? We have seen in the previous video that the evidence in support of the idea that flavonoids can have an effect on …
Flavonoids effect on cognition
Can an increased flavonoid intake affect our cognitive performance? Just as scientists are interested in the effect of flavonoids on bodily functions, such as blood pressure, they are also interested …
Besides chocolate and green tea: berries and other superfoods
Which foods contain high levels of flavonoids? As we said in the first video of the week, flavonoids are very common in the vegetable realm, as they have multiple roles …
Introduction to week 3
What are flavonoids? Green tea, chocolate and berries are some commonly cited superfoods, and they share one characteristic: being a rich source of flavonoids. In fact, the antioxidant properties of …
Green tea: a flavonoid-rich superfood
Can green tea improve our health? Green tea is consistently ranked among the healthiest beverages and could be considered the most widely consumed superfood. The mechanism through which green tea …