Superfoods

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The claim · superfoods cure everything

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The antioxidant number on a superfood package measures what is in the food, not what happens in your body after you eat it. Most of these molecules never reach the blood, and the little that does is quickly reshaped and sent out. The antioxidant ranking that propped up this marketing has been withdrawn by the very agency that published it; the chapter Why the antioxidant ranking was pulled explains what it actually measured.

You have probably seen the word superfood: açaí, goji, maca, chia, spirulina, sold as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging, and priced several times higher than ordinary food. The typical lines read like this:
X times the antioxidants of blueberriesRich in rare plant chemicals that switch on the cell's self-repairClinically proven to reverse oxidative damage
Every one of these lines is about what is in the food; not one says what will happen in your body. Between the two runs a whole road: the molecule has to cross the gut wall, get through the liver's reshaping, and actually reach the place where it is supposed to act. This story walks that road.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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