You know the buzz in the wellnessphere around ‘superfoods’ such as the kick-ass kale plant or quinoa (‘queen’ of the grains … or seeds if you want to get technical)? If foods were supermodels and graced the cover of vogue then you’d probably be confronted with pictures of a naked kale stalks slathered sexily in coconut oil (raunchy by plant standards), as you navigated the magazine selection of your newsagency. Well I think it’s confession time, brace yourselves!

I have very, very neutral feelings towards some of these ‘superfoods’. Now that’s not to say that I have anything against them or that I don’t want others to enjoy them. It’s just that my tastebuds personally prefer baby spinach over kale and buckwheat over quinoa (not that I eat grains too often, I’m usually too busy sipping on coconut water and eating olive oil drenched veggies to bother with soaking, rinsing and cooking).

Despite marketing and current trends, it is important to embrace your unique tastebuds and affirm that it ain’t a sin to forego embracing goji berries or resist jumping aboard the kimchi train.

We all like different things and that’s cool (how boring would it be if we all loved the same foods?). What matters is that we choose real foods and meet our nutritional requirements by eating those foods (and not by popping a multi-vitamin – I’m sorry but those plastic-coated pills are expensive and ineffective long-term)

Years ago I was charging full steam ahead on the health food train. Juices, barleygrass shots, quinoa flakes, coconut sugar, acai berries and medjool dates to name a few. Some I enjoyed, some I tolerated and others made me gag. I had convinced myself that it was all in the name of good health – something I was desperate to attain.

I eventually stopped the train and reassessed my values.

• Did all these new foods make me happy and vibrant. No.
• Were they all (in my humble opinion) foodgasm worthy? No.
• Were they expensive. Most of them.

Not congruent with my do what you love attitude.

I didn’t stray back to refined foods but I did stop eating certain health foods purely because I thought they were good for me. I had to love the taste too, and I mean really love it. I also had to feel good after it, my diet was 100% clean (and I mean super-duper if I don’t know what’s in it then I’m not touching it clean), yet I had mood swings, gut irritations and cloudy thinking. So clearly I was doing something wrong and I believed it was down to listening to other’s opinions rather than my own body.

Everyday it seems, there is a new ‘superfood’ thrust down our throats, claiming to cure this and enhance this. Often this is a marketing ploy but sometimes there is also some substance behind the adds. Chia seeds are amazing nutritional powerhouses and spirulina is certainly one of the most impressive foods I’ve ever come across. However none of this matters if your body rejects the food. Perhaps your tastebuds go mad for it, but your gut has other ideas. Maybe it makes you feel great but the taste repulsed you. Life is too short to only have one and not the other.

My philosophy is to ask two questions;

1) is it tasty?

2) is it nourishing?

Yes to both or it gets the flick. If you’re reading my blog, chances are you’ve read many a wellness blog and you’ve probably already discovered (or are discovering) how fabulous real foods taste. Dates in a fudge ball, almond butter on apple wedges, crispy roasted sweet spud – ahh the joys of JERFING. By all means keep discovering but forge ahead with caution. Just because someone else claims that something tastes amazing it doesn’t mean you have to love it. Just because you know that something is good for you, it doesn’t mean you have to force it down. This principle works the other way too, something can taste absolutely sensational but might not be worth sacrificing your hard earned cash or good gut bacteria for.

The take home message is simple. Eat real food, enjoy every mouthful and pay attention to how you feel afterwards. If quinoa and kale make you happy dance around the kitchen, then get around them, but if not, then just find alternatives. Just as you can swap kale for spinach and quinoa for buckwheat you can swap pumpkin for carrots and almonds for sesame seeds. Life is too fleeting to eat nourishing foods that taste bland (to your tastebuds anyways), or alternatively, to eat foods that taste brilliant but are offer no, or very little functional nutritional value.

What do you love? What keeps your tummy happy? Have you ever followed the crowd, only to realise it’s not for you?