As a kid growing up I’m sure you, like me, were obsessed
with superheroes, enthralled by their gravity defying superhuman skills and
seeming immortality. I can remember dreaming about being Spiderman, firing out
webs to fend off supervillains and I am sure you were the same.
Not content with our good guys being superhuman we had to
have bad guys that were not just bad but Superbad! We’d have been about as
happy as Joey Essex in a library if Superman spent all his time fighting your
common or garden criminal (the type that sold class C drugs from a bedroom in
his mum’s house) so we got Lex Luthor, a power-mad billionaire, inventor and scientist
intent on the annihilation of Superman.
What’s this got to do with exercise and nutrition I hear you
ask, well if you think about it, the fitness industry is not too dissimilar, it
loves to have superheroes and supervillains. Search the term superfoods on the
internet and you’ll come across any number of blogs, vlogs and articles extolling
the virtues of a seemingly infinite number of superfoods (many of which have
been written by people with an admirable and enthusiastic zeal for the topic
yet have little or no formal qualifications).
But do these superfoods actually have superpowers?
Not so, if you listen to many experts, namely the scientists
working on behalf of the NHS who look at all of the available evidence (not
just cherry pick pieces of research which suits their cause) they’ll tell you
that so called superfoods do not have superpowers. Beetroot, blueberries, goji
berries, green tea, pomegranate juice, wheatgrass [or insert any number of
superfoods here] can certainly benefit us but perhaps be nowhere near as
mind-blowingly beneficial as many would have you believe, especially if not
consumed in ridiculously high doses. In the vast majority of cases they are no
more beneficial than more common, cheaper types of food. Don’t believe me? Have
a look at the vast number of nutrients contained in blackberries – the fruit
equivalent of a homeless person – the fruit which most people walk past without
noticing, which are found growing abundantly in hedgerows up and down the
country and cost absolutely nothing.
So what about the nutrition equivalent of the supervillain?
Well for this you can almost take your pick. It seems at
some point or another almost every major foodstuff has been cast in the role of
supervillain. Recently it has been sugar, before that it was carbohydrates
(incidentally sugar is a form of carbohydrate too) and before that it was fat,
heck even protein hasn’t been without criticism.
So what’s the problem with having foods classified as super
good or super bad? The problem is it can lead to disordered eating. For example,
many people will eat the occasional superfood believing the powers held within
it will trump the negative effects of a poor diet. Similarly, those people who
are perceived to be very health conscious and endlessly ‘watch what they eat’
might have a very bland and even nutrient deficient diet if they believe that
certain foods are super bad for them.
The take home message…
Think of nutrition in terms of cops and robbers not
superheroes and supervillains. There is no one supervillain (super bad food)
that can wreak untold damage, just like there is no one superhero (superfood)
which can save the world, just plenty of everyday police officers working
together (the equivalent of a nutrient dense and balanced diet) to fight
against everyday criminals.
Thanks for reading.
To book your free trial personal training session, or to
book a place at one of my bootcamp classes, or of course for more detailed
nutrition advice please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Matt
matt@mlrpt.co.uk
www.mlrpt.co.uk 07939316401
www.twitter.com/mlrpt
www.facebook.com/mlrpt
www.twitter.com/mlrpt
