Superfoods Can’t Help with Weight Loss

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Some people believe some foods can help us lose weight – for instance, grapefruit, celery, or kelp can burn fat or speed up metabolism. But this is not true. No individual food can significantly affect your metabolic rate or assist with weight loss.

There is no scientifically based or regulated definition for “superfood” but its inclusion in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary — “a food (such as salmon, broccoli, or blueberries) that is rich in compounds (such as antioxidants, fiber, or fatty acids) considered beneficial to a person’s health” — confirms its widespread use in more recent years. And there is no standard definition of what a superfood must be. And, as with “natural,” the term superfood is not a regulated food claim (at least in the United States), which means that it can be applied to any food without consequence.

• Most foods labelled as superfoods tend to be plant-based – acai berries, wheatgrass, spirulina, salmon, leafy greens, tea, and turmeric. Although typically packed with nutrients – vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants – they have little energy.

• Most are also low-glycemic-index foods, which means they produce minimal insulin response when you eat them and won’t put you on the blood-sugar rollercoaster that can cause poor food decisions. Those are both desirable traits, but they’re also true of pretty much any food high in fiber and are not unique to superfoods.

If you enjoy these foods, there’s nothing wrong with having them as part of a healthy diet. But don’t expect to get huge health benefits and eating them with a poor diet will not result in weight loss. Like any food, superfoods provide the body with energy in the form of calories, and you can gain weight from these foods if you eat too much. This is especially true if you favor superfoods in the form of sugar-rich juices.

While superfoods are often nutritious, the term is more useful for marketing purposes: “superfoods” = super sales.

It is your overall dietary pattern that has the biggest impact on your weight and health so if you make them part of your overall healthy approach to your life, well, that’s super.