SUPERFOOD POWDER ROUND UP

{ we picked a few particularly effective superfood powders and tried them out for you. }

Superfoods sound exciting! The sound like a shortcut and I like shortcuts! A food that wears the badge ‘superfood’ tells me it’s really really good for me and I don’t need to do anymore research.

Unfortunately it’s all become a bit confusing lately as there are so many superfoods in so many formats and I’m just left wondering how many powders I can integrate in to my smoothies or protein balls every day.

If you’re in a similar predicament please read on, we picked a few particularly effective superfood powders and tried them out for you.

Green Press – Forever Young

Hmmmm an appealing name which has got me very keen to try it ASAP. It comes in a lovely jar you won’t be embarrassed to leave on the kitchen bench (as opposed to say… a tub of Metamucil).

This mix is a mix of collagen and vitamin C which will work hand in hand to boost your skins radiance naturally. Camu Camu and Kakadu Plum deliver the vitamin C to ensure the collagen is properly absorbed.

Why do I need collagen and vitamin C in your life? To look less like a haggard and harassed new mother with eye bags down to my knees and skin which is anything but plump. You’re situation may not be quite as dramatic but we can all use a little skin firmness and elasticity in our lives.

Emmily Banks is an eco beauty advocate and owner of Depths Of Beauty, she is a huge fan or camu camu. “Amazonian tribes have harnessed the goodness of this fruit for hundreds of years, utilising it’s immune boosting properties” Emmily tells us. “It’s bursting with amino acids and vitamin c which aid the immune system in promoting general health and also assist in supporting and protecting skin cells for a healthy, radiant complexion.”

This is the kind of superfood you get in to for the long haul, the jar recommends using for a month to see results. Now I have been consuming copious amounts of superfoods this last month so maybe it’s the smoothies talking… but I do think I have a little more firmness in my face. In a good way!

As recommended on the jar, I took it as a spoonful in juice or lemon water in the morning. It tasted inoffensive but was a bit gritty. I ended up adding a few spoonfuls to the raw muesli bar mix I usually make for the week, it didn’t effect the taste and it made muesli bars my choice of snack for a few weeks (chasing that youthful skin!). I recommend you add it to your fave raw food recipe or a thicker breakfast smoothie. I would even eat it mixed in with some almond butter. In fact I might just do that right now…

Blackmores – Matcha

I’ve heard a lot about this over the years but always avoided a Matcha Latte as it sounded like a curdled situation in my stomach just waiting to happen. Anyway, moving swiftly along…

So to take this one I avoided adding it to liquid and popped it in my raw foods. So teaspoon added to a bliss ball recipe like this one works wonders for me. It’s a nice savoury taste and fine texture. You feel like you’re doing something good for yourself as opposed to just blending up dates and cacao and pretending it’s a healthy snack (or is that just me?)

The new range of superfood powders from Blackmores are fantastically packaged and have a great range of info right there on the packet if you do want to take it as a tea drink.

Jess Rutledge, the legend behind The Greenery Clinic, tells us Matcha is an antioxidant rich formula which is easily included into your day as a hot elixir or smoothie. She recommends it as great replacement for coffee, “matcha gives you an energy kick along with a dose of nutrients including vitamin c, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium. It’s a powerful metabolism booster and aids detoxification pathways”.

Jess’s hot elixir:

Gently heat a cup of nut milk and stir in 1 tsp maca, 1 tsp matcha, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Add a little coconut blossom nectar if you would like it sweet.

Kakadu Plum Co.- Kakadu Plum

Kakadu Plum contains the highest level of natural Vitamin C content globally – more than 100 times that of oranges. It’s nice to know it is a native fruit of ours, originally used by the Aboriginal community for its powerful healing properties.

I liked the taste, I added it to my green smoothies and salad dressings and loved it. I’m a bit of a whirlwind at the moment, life is busy, so on the days I took it I knew I was getting a huge Vit C boost without ensuring I have the right fruits in the house!

Emmily Banks also give us her views on what it can do for your skin, “this amazing fruit contains the highest level of Vitamin C in a single natural food source WORLDWIDE (50 times the concentration found in oranges). Vitamin C is a vital ingredient in collagen production and maintenance which keeps our skin looking firm and healthy. The antioxidants also assist our skin in neutralising free radicals which means less wrinkle and sag. Basically it’s mother earth delivering beauty the natural way.”

So maybe this little sachet of power powder also contributed to the ‘firm face’ I previously mentioned. Sign me up.

Another yummy recipe suggestion is to sprinkle Kakadu Plum powder on homemade sweet potato fries with some paprika, salt and olive oil.

Bioglan – Superfoods Wholefood Smoothie

There are about six thousand ingredients on the box for this product and all of them look like something I should be eating. Unlike the other powders in this article, this one is pitched as a meal replacement.

I’m never one for diet fads so have never tried a meal replacement shake or anything designed to just fill me up. This one isn’t just about being full, one glass has more protein than an egg, more calcium than milk, more fibre than a cup of oats and loads of other vitamins and minerals.

I drank this smoothie mixed with cold coconut milk, I tried it for breakfast and I had it as an afternoon snack. It really did keep me full in both instances but it tasted fresh which was nice. It’s definitely a more delicious choice when compared to my standard afternoon snack of whatever is leftover from the babies lunch (nectarine, beef and peas anyone?).

I was also quite keen on the fact that there was a mix of chia, spirulina, prebiotics and probiotics, greens and berries without having to do loads of prep and clean the blender etc.