Are "superfoods" real? The water spinach at your local market has superpowers too

Whose word is "superfood"?

Look in a nutrition textbook and you will not find a scientific definition of "superfood". It is a marketing word, not a scientific term.

No committee hands out the title. A food usually becomes "super" thanks to three things: it sounds exotic, it has one or two interesting studies, and someone tells a good story about it.

Interestingly, since 2007 the European Union has tightened the rules on health claims for food. A benefit-flavoured word like "superfood" cannot be used freely on packaging unless it comes with a health claim approved by the relevant authority.

That does not mean these foods are bad. Chia seeds, kale and blueberries are all good foods. The word "super" is just doing more work than it can carry.

Test tubes and real life are very far apart

Many "super" claims come from real research. But often it is research in test tubes, in mice, or using extracts at very high doses.

Take turmeric. Curcumin, a compound in turmeric, shows interesting results in the lab. But the human body absorbs curcumin very poorly. A spoonful of turmeric powder in a pot of curry is a world away from the amounts used in experiments.

This pattern comes up a lot:

1. A compound in a food shows good results in cells.
2. The headline says: "Food X fights disease Y."
3. The reader thinks: eating food X is enough.

Between step 1 and step 3, lots of "may", "in mice" and "at high doses" quietly get cut.

Imported superfoods versus the Vietnamese market

This is the most fun part. Plenty of familiar market foods have strengths that are every bit as good:

Hạt é swells when soaked, just like chia, and it has been floating in Grandma's nước sâm (herbal cooling drink) for years. Gấc is rich in lycopene and beta-carotene, and has long been in the plate of xôi gấc (red sticky rice) at Tết.

That does not mean imported foods are useless. You simply do not need them to eat well.

Why one food is never enough

Every food has its own set of nutrients. Leafy greens have folate and vitamin K. Fish has protein and omega-3. Beans have fibre and plant protein. Fruit has vitamin C.

No food has it all. So the real power lies in variety, not in one star ingredient.

There is a psychological trap too. People sprinkle a spoonful of chia on a sugar-loaded milk tea and feel reassured. Or eat a kale salad drowned in three spoonfuls of rich, sweet dressing. The word "super" makes us forget to look at the whole picture.

Nutrition experts often say something simple: a good diet is a colourful diet. A plate with the green of vegetables, the red-orange of tomatoes and carrots, the purple of cabbage, the white of tofu.

How to choose wisely

A few little questions when you meet a new "superfood":

• Can a familiar food do the same job? If there is a similar market food, just use that.
• Is the praise based on studies in humans or in mice?
• Will I eat it regularly, or buy it once and forget it in the cupboard?
• Does it come with sugar, salt or rich dressing? Instant matcha powder mixes can hold more sugar than you think.

And do not feel you are missing out if your kitchen has no chia seeds or spirulina. A family meal of boiled greens, cá kho (caramelised braised fish) and canh chua (sweet and sour soup) is already very "super".

Frequently asked questions