15 of the Most Powerful Superfoods

When you hear the word superfood, what comes to mind? A carrot in a cape? A nectarine with night vision?

Some foods are so nutritious it may seem like they have superpowers, but outside the marketing world, there actually is no such thing as a superfood — by scientific standards, at least. Despite the lack of evidence backing the touted health benefits of superfoods (in 2007, the European Union banned using “superfood” on labels that didn’t have a specific, authorized, health claim), that hasn’t slowed superfood sales. Between 2011 and 2015, there was a 202 percent increase in global sales of products marketed as “superfoods,” “superfruits,” or “supergrains,” according to the Mintel Global New Products Database.

The superfood trend dates back almost a century, and may have all started with a banana. In the 1920s, the United Fruit Company ran a series of colorful ads on the health benefits of bananas, research detailing the benefits of bananas was published, and soon the tropical fruit became the first food labeled a superfood, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. More than 90 years later, bananas continue to be in the top three most imported fruits in the United States.

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Acai berries, avocados, and blueberries are other examples of foods that have risen to superfood status, with health benefit claims that include reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease. While these foods are healthy and may possess nutrients other foods don’t have, Taylor Wolfram, RD, a nutritionist in private practice based in Chicago, says the healthiest diets are diverse and balanced — not ones based on “superfoods” alone.

“There are tons of different kinds of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables,” she says. “The varieties in color indicate different nutrients that confer some sort of health benefit — the more diverse your diet, the better.”

Here are 15 foods at the top of the superfood chain, along with their recommended daily values (DV) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dietary Supplement Label Database.