The Good Health Guide

by Kate Wood of Raw Living

Superfoods are natural plant foods which have an exceptionally high nutritional content, making them healing and energising.  We are not talking about the usual healthy suspects like broccoli and blueberries, but more exotic ingredients such as cacao, maca and goji berries. 

These foods have only recently been introduced to the UK, so you may not have heard of them.  They have only been available here for a couple of years, and are still mainly stocked through a few specialist retailers.  But their popularity is spreading fast.  And soon you will see bags of maca instead of Maltesers at the supermarket checkouts!

The point about these amazing gifts from mother earth is that they really work.  You take them and you notice the difference almost immediately.  Because of their potency, some people find that they have an aversion to one or another, but there are so many appearing on the scene right now, you are sure to find one that suits you.

• Maca is every woman’s best friend, especially if you have recently been or are pregnant.  It’s full of protein and minerals, especially calcium and iron, and it balances your hormones.  It’s native to Peru, and is the plant that grows at the highest altitude in the world - take some if you feel that life is like climbing a mountain and it will provide you with the energy and stamina to reach the top!
• Cacao is the bean that chocolate is made from.  Magically enough, raw chocolate is good for you, in fact it is one of the healthiest foods in the world, packed full of antioxidants and minerals such as sulphur and magnesium.  Eating cacao gives you a real natural high, but with none of the side effects traditionally associated with chocolate consumption because it’s free from sugar, animal products and harmful fats.
• Goji berries are the most nutrient dense food on the planet.  These little red berries taste like bubble gum, and the Chinese say the only side effect of eating them is laughing too much.

These are just a few of our favourite superfoods at Raw Living.  You may already be familiar with ones like spirulina and aloe vera.  Or you may fancy looking into some of the even newer arrivals such as suma and purple corn.  Whatever you try, start slowly with just a little a day, and build up your levels gradually until you feel comfortable.  Watch out for any healing crises or detox reactions.  And remember, one of the best things about this new wave of superfoods is that they actually taste fantastic - so now we really can have our raw chocolate cake and eat it too!

The superfoods mentioned in this website can all be ordered from Kate’s website www.rawliving.co.uk where you can also purchase Kate’s own raw chocolate bars and other scrumptious goodies.