‘Superfoods you need now!!! People who eat more of them are healthier and thinner than those who don't’. This was the headline and a direct quote from an article online recently. My thoughts on reading the opening paragraph were of utter annoyance.

Working in a busy health shop I see it every day. People come running in after reading an article needing to get the latest bean/berry/juice/tea that will change their life forever. This notion of one product being able to change their life is at times amusing but also frightening.

Their rationality stems primarily from marketing. I hate to say it but woman tend to be the most gullible, constantly looking for ‘the magic pill’. Celebrity influences are huge amongst teenagers or it can also be from Mary, their neighbour down the road, who lost 5 stone in 2 weeks and found it brilliant :-).

Lots of these foods deemed as ‘Super’ do provide benefits and are more nutrient-dense than others, yet one must look around and see the bigger picture. Are these foods more superior than others?? There is an impression that eating healthy is a luxury and expensive. Don’t get me wrong, healthy fresh food daily will without a doubt be more expensive than processed and fast foods. Marketed ‘Superfoods’ are however fuelling the idea that eating healthy is expensive. The health conscious are now adding bee pollen, goji berries, acai powder and many more foods to their daily breakfast which will all add up. I feel that people nearly feel pressurised into buying these so they can show how healthy they are on their Instagram and facebook pages.

Goji berries' country of origin is China and they are only available in dried form at the moment in Ireland. Are these additions deemed healthier than fresh Irish blackberries for example? Popular supermarkets particularly Aldi and Lidl are also now selling certain vegetables at 32cent per bag. THIRTY-TWO CENT!!!! A great deal for shoppers on a budget but more than likely they have been shipped halfway across the world. Do you think their nutrient status is the same as when they were first picked??

Shopping for foods in season is an excellent start to maximise nutrition status.

People are getting used to buying fruit and vegetables for half nothing so when a local farmer goes to sell their produce that they have grown at a market, their prices are deemed over the top expensive. My personal opinion is to shop local and in-season where possible to make the most out of all the super foods available in Ireland.

By all means, add some of these topical ‘Superfoods’ to your weekly shop if you can afford them but if budget is tight I’d spend my pennies on local in-season produce instead.

If you go onto Bord Bia's Best In Season website, it gives a printable version of what I have detailed below. The following are foods are grown in Ireland over the next few months so they will be at their freshest, tastiest and most importantly most nutritious.

Look into visiting your local farmers market too here.

Thanks for reading,