Jun 20 (IPS) – This year, bee pollen has become a trendy superfood thanks to its many potential benefits. Last year’s superfood trend was led by sea moss. Before that it was turmeric.
As always, the new and emerging superfoods are by no means new. They have been consumed by non-Western cultures for a long time. Inadequate research on their nutritional content and health properties almost always leads to exaggerated lists of benefits, from cancer prevention to overall vitality and longevity. They’re trendy for a few years and then often take a backseat to the next “superfood.”
Despite there being more than 30,000 edible species on Earth, half of all calories globally come from some form of wheat, rice or corn.
However, the frequent appearance of popular superfoods shows that food biodiversity persists in many communities and regions around the world. In a recent publication natural food, Together with 54 colleagues, we set out to capture and prioritize this diversity through a curated list of 1,650 foods.
Surprisingly, more than 1,000 foods on the Select Foods List are not included in the National Food Composition Database. That means we don’t have easy access to what’s in these foods, or science doesn’t yet know what’s in them. . This suggests that dietary guidelines that rely on national food composition databases are missing much of humanity’s long history and co-evolution with food.
Moreover, even foods that are commonly consumed and included in national food composition databases are rarely identified. Approximately 95% of biomolecules in food are unknown to science. This is the “dark matter” of food, diet and biodiversity. We don’t know what these biomolecules are or how they function in the ecosystem and in our bodies.
Mapping this dark matter is a task too large for any one laboratory, organization, or country to accomplish on its own. We need a unified science movement bigger than the Human Genome Project. Governments and researchers around the world must fill the gaps in our knowledge about the food we eat.
A set of standardized tools, data, and training are now available for this effort. This will allow us to build a centralized database based on standardized tools to enable researchers, practitioners and communities to share wisdom and expertise about foods and their diverse properties to inform solutions to pressing problems. Social challenge.
Preliminary data from the first 500 foods analyzed show that many “whole foods” can be considered “superfoods” that are more unique than common biomolecules. For example, each fruit and vegetable has a unique biomolecular composition that varies depending on its environment, processing, and preparation.
Broccoli, which achieved “superfood” status a few years ago due to its antioxidant properties and connection to gut health, contains more than 900 biomolecules not found in other green vegetables.
Although we confirmed the presence of these compounds through mass spectrometry, we were unable to determine the nature of these unique metabolites. There is not enough data to name them accurately, nor is there enough understanding about the body and the role it plays in the body. Ecosystems around the world.
And these 900-plus biomolecules (broccoli’s dark matter) are in addition to the biomolecules broccoli shares with other cruciferous vegetables and may help prevent a variety of diseases, from colon and other cancers to vascular disease.
Diet-related diseases, including diabetes, some cancers, and heart disease, are now a leading cause of death worldwide. However, the full link between diet and disease, soil and gut microbiota, climate change and nutrient content still remains uncertain.
As scientists are finding new links between diet and health for conditions as diverse as macular degeneration and blood clotting disorders, regulators are calling for more science to guide policy decisions.
In the 20th century, agriculture was simplified to focus only on the yield and efficiency of a few crops. The success has been significant, but at the expense of diversity, food quality and agricultural resilience. Superfoods (trends, not actual foods) are the collective poster child for this problem.
The food system is now at a crossroads. The 21st century can be the century of diversity, a new cornerstone of food science. But we need help uncovering the dark matter of food and charting the complex interactions between food, ecosystems, climate, and health.
As we call for a collaborative global effort to bridge the gap in what we eat, we must ensure that these efforts do not lead to scientific gaps between countries and regions.
Capacity-building efforts are needed to ensure that all countries participate equally and inclusively, benefiting from knowledge about what is in our food, how it changes, and its impact on the health of people and the planet.
Borrowing superfoods from non-Westernized cultures and giving them nothing in return is not enough. Now is the time to open the black box of food and create a more nutritious food system for everyone.
Selena Ahmed He is a professor at the University of Montana and global director of the American Heart Association’s Periodic Table of Foods (PTFI).
Maya Rajasekaran He is PTFI Director of Strategic Integration and Engagement for Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.
© Interpress Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Interpress Service
