The term superfood is thrown around a lot, with everything from berries to oils to extracts being touted as the next best thing for your health. Actually comparing these foods can be difficult, particularly if you aren’t familiar with the elements that make a food beneficial to your health. While superfoods may contain the nutrients and vitamins your body needs, they also may have negative effects on the body if consumed too often. Read on to discover what claims are made about some of the most popular superfoods, and how chaga stacks up against them. If you'd like more info on the health benefits of chaga, be sure to check out our Chaga Health Benefits and Chaga Antioxidants & Key Ingredients posts.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please consult with your doctor and read the latest information provided by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center before taking Chaga for any health condition.
What is a Superfood?
The origin of the term superfood is debated, but most agree that it is simply a marketing term used to promote foods that benefit your body in multiple ways. Generally speaking, a superfood is a nutrient-rich, healthy food that increases your health and well-being. Many have a high concentration of vitamins, nutrients, essential fats and antioxidants, and are proven to have positive effects on the body and certain health conditions when taken regularly. They may combat the absorption of unhealthy compounds into the bloodstream or prevent cellular damage. These are some of the most popular superfoods with an explanation of how they benefit the body, and how Chaga compares:
1. Quinoa
Quinoa is a gluten-free grain that is native to South America. It acts as a great source of vitamins, flavonoids and antioxidants derived from plants, particularly quercetin and kaempferol. The increased presence of
How Chaga Compares to Quinoa
Chaga also contains a high level of antioxidants that provide the same functions within the bloodstream. Polyphenols and SODs are both highly concentrated within the chaga mushroom. Each of these compounds holds powerful antioxidant potential, and can be consumed in a high quantity through drinking chaga tea as opposed to having to eat large amounts of quinoa.
2. Goji Berries
Native to China, goji berries are a small round berry with a bright orange or red color. As is the case with chaga, some practitioners of alternative medicine have taken goji berries for years for the general health benefits they provide. As with Chaga, Goji berries contain a high amount of polysaccharides, which is one of the main selling points used to promote their health benefits. However, the main polysaccharide in goji berries is pectin, the same one commonly found in many other types of berries. Pectin is also found in pharmaceutical drugs and baked goods.
How Chaga Compares to Goji Berries
By contrast, chaga contains chitin, a structural polysaccharide that is incredibly beneficial for human consumption once extracted from chaga. While chitin is widely used in Asia within food products, it is harder to find in other continents. As far back as 200 years ago, the value of both pectin and chitin for human consumption was established; however the average modern diet includes plenty of
3. Avocado
Avocado is often promoted as a superfood because it contains many beneficial nutrients like Vitamin D and folic acid. The combination of lipids and nutrients in the avocado can promote heart health and lower cholesterol levels.
How Chaga Compares to Avocado
Chaga also works to improve cholesterol levels naturally. The beta-D-glucans found within the chitin contained in chaga prevent cholesterol from being absorbed into the bloodstream during the process of digestion. Trials have shown that regular intake of beta-D-glucans decreases levels of low-density lipoprotein, the bad cholesterol, in only a few weeks.
4. Spinach, Kale and other Dark Leafy Greens
Dark leafy greens, like spinach and kale, are typically packed with nutrients that benefit the hair, eyes and skin. Spinach also contains chlorophyll, which is thought to counteract the effects of carcinogens consumed as part of your regular diet. To top it off, spinach also provides a healthy dose of antioxidants. The ORAC value of spinach is reportedly 1513 TE units per 100 grams.
How Chaga Compares to Spinach
While spinach is a great, healthy choice for anyone who likes the taste of it, you do have to consume a large amount to truly reap the benefits. Chaga provides many of the same benefits and can be flavored using different ingredients to suit your taste.
5. Rose Hips
Rose hips are a round, red fruit that grows on certain types of wild rose bushes. The high content of Vitamin C within rose hips is the main health benefit of consuming the fruit. Rose hips have some of the highest vitamin c levels of any plant source. While Vitamin C is certainly necessary for good health, there are limits to what it can do for your health. Recent studies have shown that Vitamin C does not help reduce risk of cancer and is ineffective as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
How Chaga Compares to Rose Hips
By contrast, testing has confirmed that the phytosterols found in chaga have a direct, anti-cancer effect. The beta glucans also found in chaga reduce inflammation in the bloodstream, which can help with the painful symptoms of arthritis.
6. Parsley
Though it is most often used as a garnish and not always consumed, parsley is a food that provides many nutritional benefits. The herb is high in flavonoids and volatile oils, two ingredients that have been proven to have a positive effect on many aspects of health. Parsley can combat free radical damage and help with the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, much like chaga does. However, there can be negative effects to eating too much parsley for those who suffer from kidney stones or gallbladder issues.
How Chaga Compares to Parsley
Unlike parsley, there are no reports of any ill effects from consuming too much chaga, so you can enjoy all the benefits of chaga without concern.
7. Acai Berries
Acai berries, which are native to South America, have grown to enormous popularity over the last few years in North America. Many health experts in popular culture started touting the berries as a superfood and pointing to Amazon tribes who had used the berries as food and natural remedy for years as evidence. Many claims floated around, including that acai berries could help to combat cancer or promote weight loss. But recent studies have shown that acai berries are no more beneficial for health than any other berry, and many of the claims about acai berries and their power go unsubstantiated. What has been proven is that the acai berry does offer some vitamins and antioxidants, a healthy dose of fiber and a mid-range ORAC value, a number assigned to represent the amount of antioxidants a food contains.
How Chaga Compares to Acai Berries
As you will see in the chart below, Chaga has a much higher ORAC value than Acai Berries, Rosehip and Parsley. Not to mention the many other healthy ingredients it contains!
The ORAC Value of Chaga
Reports place the ORAC value of genuine dual extract chaga at 146.000 TE units per 100 grams. This makes chaga a more potent source of antioxidants than many popular superfoods.
Source: http://oriveda.com/index.php
What the other Superfoods are Missing
Many of the superfoods on the market offer benefits to your overall health and can help with medical conditions and diseases. But there are none that can offer all of the benefits that chaga does. Due to the unique way that chaga grows, the mushroom contains powerful bioactive ingredients that other foods simply don’t contain. As chaga matures, nutrients and polysaccharides seep into the scleroterum from the birch bark of the host tree. This process provides chaga with the unique compounds that make it so beneficial to the human system, like betulin and betulinic acid. Preliminary testing of these compounds in animals shows that they can act as anti-cancer agents, break down cholesterol molecules and potentially even prevent deadly viruses such as HIV. As research into the benefits and effects of chaga on the body continues, it is only a matter of time until we find out more about the ways it can help to promote good health and prevent disease.
If you plan on purchasing chaga, please click here to check out our Buying Guide. Or, if you plan on harvesting your own, please check out our Harvest Guide.
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Sources:
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-rose-hip.html
http://oriveda.com/index.php
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=100
http://oracvalues.com/spinach-raw
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/acai-berry.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144861711008629
