Superfoods Index

Superfoods Index

Miranda Kerr has been onto something with her love for Acai berries. Acai berries are just one of nature's superfoods – the best foods we can eat as they are supercharged with essential nutrients to improve brain function and vitality.

The power packed pocket book Superfoods Index lists not only Acai berries but all the top 50 superfoods along with their nutrient content and their benefits to the body. Foods you will be aware of, as well as foods you may have never considered to be superfoods, such as passionfruit, chicken and even coffee are on the list.

-The emphasis here is on eating a really nutrient rich diet, that fills you up and keeps you glowing with health' says best-selling author and blogger Seana Smith.

Superfoods Index gives you ideas of how to make your body healthier, happier and wiser through consuming these foods. There are clues on what to be aware of when buying, eating, storing, and cooking these superfoods.

This supercharged book contains all you need to know to make your life zing with health and vitality.


Seana Smith studied Latin, Greek and Old and Mediaeval English at Wadham College, University of Oxford before coming to Australia and becoming a best-selling author and well-followed blogger on family and health issues.

 

If you want to change your daily diet to give you more energy, this little handbook will help you source the right superfoods for better health and engery.

 

Superfoods Index
Jane Curry Publishing
Author: Seana Smith
ISBN: 9780987227584
RRP: $6.95

Interview with Seana Smith

Question: Why did you decide to write the Superfoods Index?

Seana Smith: The Superfoods Index was actually commissioned by Jane Curry Publishing, a company I have a long association with.

But the commission came at the perfect time for me. I had been spending a lot of time improving my diet, and trying to improve my children's eating habits too. I had started a new blog called: 'The Mum's Diet- Losing Weight Whilst Feeding A family.'

So I was reading voraciously and cooking a lot more too. Ideal time to have a great excuse to focus more on foods which give you the most bang for your buck nutritionally.


Question: What are superfoods?

Seana Smith: Superfoods can be a term used by marketers to spruik the latest fad. But what it really means is foods which are more nutrient dense than others; the foods that give you more of the good, healthy stuff we need than run of the mill foodstuffs.


Question: Can you give us some examples of Superfoods?

Seana Smith: Sure, how about these: nuts, berries, beans and lentils, citrus fruits, cocoa, mango, lean red meat, quinoa, spinach and sea vegetables. There's the basis for a great day's eating!


Question: What foods do you avoid in your diet?

Seana Smith: I do try to avoid all the white stuff and all the over-processed foods: white flour, white bread, white rice is rarely seen on my plate. We tend to avoid most processed cereals and deep fried foods too. The good thing about avoiding the more processed and packaged foods are that you have a lot less waste to throw out, as well as eating a more clean diet.

But just in case I sound too holy, we do eat processed and packaged foods at time. There are fish fingers in the oven right now. My kids would love to eat more than we do though! It's all about balance.


Question: What is a typical days food diary for you?
Seana Smith: I love to wake up hungry and have a good, hearty breakfast. Porridge in winter, with fruit and maybe nuts or seeds, in summer I love oats, nuts, fresh fruit and yoghurt. Or a massive smoothie made with basically the same stuff and with milk and ice blended in.

I love to drink loads of tea and will have snacks of fruit or nuts, or a coffee when I'm out. A skim latte is a great mid-meal snack.

If lunch needs to be fast then it's something from the fridge or cupboard, like tofu, tuna or kidney beans, with salad... and I mean with a LOT of salad.

My kids eat a bigger dinner than I do. The four children and my husband are all lean, mean running machines and they need carbs at night. But I don't. So if we have Spaghetti Bolognaise I eat mine over a crunchy salads, whilst they have pasta. Tonight it's fish fingers, potatoes and green beans for the younger kids, and pan-fried salmon and green beans for me - no potatoes needed!

I really believe in loving what you eat and eating well. So when I eat chocolate - which I do love, by the way - I make it a really good dark chocolate. A block doesn't last long in my house.

Usually I make pretty healthy cakes for the family, though I do make the odd totally indulgent and sugary treats. You can find recipes at Sydney, Kids, Food + Travel (the healthy chocolate and banana cake recipes there are fabulous, the condensed milk biscuits with macadamia would make a dietician shudder).

I wish I could say that I never overindulge in the sweeter things but I do. But having lots of children in the house means nothing lasts for long, luckily for me.

Writing 'The Superfoods Index' was a great way for me to focus in on the foods that are going to give me the best nutrition. I'll use it myself as a reminder of what to buy at the supermarket!

 

Superfoods Index
Jane Curry Publishing
Author: Seana Smith
ISBN: 9780987227584
RRP: $6.95