The food that we eat has a purpose whether it is to give energy, body building, to help with weight loss, weight gain, to help control certain medical conditions, etc. The food we eat helps to nourish our bodies, and thereby helps with an overall better output and performance. There is no single food that can nourish you completely, and encompass all your nutritional need in one fell swoop; but “super foods” come quite close to doing just that.

What Is A Super Food?

Superfoods are the new “it” thing that everyone is talking about. Though the term may be new and improved these are foods that have been around for centuries and are often found in all our kitchens. The term super food is generally used to refer to foods that offer you the maximum benefits with minimal calories.

Some people say that superfoods are the foods that are the keys to help you look younger, live longer, be happier, healthier, etc. When you read of statements like that, the mind automatically goes to things that are expensive, and fancy, with complicated sounding names, that are found rarely, if ever in some far of jungle, and almost impossible to find; that might very well be, but they are also a lot closer than you think. Quite a few of these super foods are those that are had on an almost daily basis, and no Indian dish is complete without.

Here are 10 commonly found super foods that must have a place in your Indian meals:

What Can You Make: Laddoos (with puffed rice and jaggery); boiled (as a substitute to rice); the flour can be used to make chapathis/ chillas; Raab (a broth of amaranth flour, ghee, jaggery, and dry ginger powder), etc.

What Can You Make: Sabjis and curries (either plain or in combination with other vegetables); added to dhal or sambhar; made into a powder, and added to any juice; added to batters, and doughs of foods like chapathis, dosas/chillas etc.

What Can You Make:  It can be consumed as juice, jams, pickles, chutneys, etc.

What Can You Make: Most often jamuns are used in the preparation of deserts, jams, juices, etc. They are also consumed plain or with salt; they can even be made into wine and vinegar. The seeds of the jamun can be dried and made into a powder that can be added to different flours, and consumed which has benefits in diabetes control.

What Can You Make: They can be consumed as fresh fish (curry, fry, etc.), or dried; very often they extract the oil from them which is then used in the pharmaceutical industry, and can even be converted into margarine. Tinned/canned sardines are also a favourite of many as a breakfast dish.

What Can You Make: Spirulina is available commercially as a powder, capsules/tablets. This can be consumed as such, or added to juices, made into laddoos, chikkis, etc.

What Can You Make: Banana flower is most commonly prepared as a sabji, curry, chutney, and even chips or bhajjis.

What Can You Make: Dried turmeric is mainly used as a spice, however fresh turmeric can be used to make sabjis, chutnies, etc. The leaves of the turmeric plant are also used for the purpose of steaming, and are even chopped into small pieces and added to curries and sabjis for flavouring.

What Can You Make: Beetroots can be consumed as juice, salad, sabjis/curries soups, etc. and the same goes for the leaves as well; beetroots can also be converted into desserts and consumed, or even made into chutneys, pickles, etc.

“Super foods” are the latest and newest kids on the block when it comes to nutrition; however a deeper and closer inspection reveals that most of these foods along with the other super foods, have actually been around for a much longer time. It is now that there is a lot of research being done to understand the numerous benefits that these superfoods can have on our system. A well balanced diet, incorporating ample amounts of these super foods on a daily basis, has been shown to provide us with a myriad of benefits for our health; it’s time to start eating healthy.

The article is authored by Nina Maria Saldanha, Executive Nutritionist, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Bengaluru (Whitefield)

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