Steven Pratt's "The Superfoods Rx" hit bookstores in 2003, identifying a list of 14 foods Pratt claimed were as unusually good for you as supersized fast food meal is bad. According to advice in Pratt's book and accompanying website, you can drastically improve your health and even your lifespan by incorporating superfoods into your diet.
Micronutrients
The Superfoods Rx diet centers its program around micronutrients. These are compounds that occur naturally in foods, beyond the USDA identified vitamins and minerals. According to Pratt, micronutrients can have a dramatic effect on tissue health, body symptom function and immunity. Some examples of micronutrients include karotenids, flavonoids and phytonutrients. If a food both contains abundant micronutrients and has been clinically demonstrated to improve human health, Pratt and his team add it to the list.
The Superfoods
"The Superfoods Rx" named 14 original superfoods: yogurt, walnuts, turkey, tomatoes, tea, spinach, soy, wild salmon, pumpkin, oranges, oats, broccoli, blueberries and beans. As a result of ongoing research, Pratt continues to add new superfoods on his website. As of 2010, Pratt identifies 25 superfoods. The new superfoods include pomegranates, onions, kiwi, honey, garlic, olive oil, dark chocolate, cinnamon, avocados and apples. Since 2004, Pratt has removed yogurt from the original list, replacing it with low-fat yogurt. He has also included dried superfruits among his list of superfoods.
Sidekicks
Most of Pratt's superfoods are the best available food for a certain category of health benefits. Both the book and its website offer "sidekicks" for most superfoods. These are foods that offer the same benefits as the primary superfood, only in smaller amounts. The sidekick foods for blueberries include cranberries and blackberries. Sidekicks for pumpkin include squash, carrots and orange peppers.
Menu Options
For the most part, incorporating superfoods into your diet is a matter of choosing recipes that include them. The diet doesn't recommend eating only superfoods, just that you include them over the course of a week. You can also find recipes that highlight and emphasize superfoods on the Superfoods website, and in the back of "The Superfoods Rx." Some health spas also include meal plans based on the superfoods concept.
Weight Loss
The superfoods plan is not a weight loss diet. It's a diet based on optimal nutrition. However, Oregon-based fitness coach Ben Cohn notes that superfoods have low calories in comparison to their nutrition load, and most of them have a low glycemic index. According to Cohn, a diet composed mostly of superfoods is substantially more friendly to weight-loss efforts than the average American diet.
References
- "Superfoods Rx"; Steven Pratt, et al; 2004
- SuperfoodsRx
- Ben Cohn; Fitness Coach; Hillsboro, Oregon
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