Jan 9, 2009 7:24 pm US/Eastern
Consumer: Exotic Fruit - Superfood Or Super Fad?
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Pomegranates are loaded with antioxidants, which protect cells from damage by compounds called free radicals. (File)
AP
Move over soy and pomegranate.
Food manufacturers are infusing more exotic fruit into their products and calling them the latest "superfoods."
But are they really just another super fad? CBS 2's Kirstin Cole investigates.
Ever heard of a Mangosteen?
A mangosteen is actually a tropical fruit that looks like a purple peach, and it's part of a new batch of superfoods that manufacturers are now incorporating into their products for their purported health benefits.
Nutritionist Andrea Beaman says that superfoods help you "fight obesity, improve moods, improve skin tone, reduce cancer and heart disease."
Remember the grapefruit diet? Beaman says it was considered the first superfood of the 70's.
These days, superfoods are a lot more exotic, from the Acai Berries of the Amazon rainforest to Goji berries hailed by Chinese herbalists.
But just how much benefit will you get from a waffle speckled with pomegranate or Goji-infused juice?
"You may be getting a bit more vitamin C, but you're also getting a lot of sugar and other ingredients that diminish the superfoods' power," Beaman says.
Beaman charges that products infused with superfoods are the latest marketing ploy by growers and manufacturers.
"It's like the newest diet that comes up on the market and everybody says, 'Oh, I have to try this,' " Beaman says.
To really reap the super benefits of these superfoods, Beaman says to eat them in their most wholesome form and incorporate them daily.
"The truth is, a balanced diet will make you feel like a super person," Beaman says.
The Food and Drug Administration warns that consumers shouldn't expect any one food to be a nutritional magic bullet, and has ordered the distributor of one Acai juice to stop suggesting that the berry has therapeutic qualities.
Another new super food, hemp seed, is being used to make milk similar to soy milk.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments