Superfoods are foods and drinks that offer the most “pow for their punch!” They are high in nutrients and boast a myriad of benefits to the body. Here are four (4) Paleo/Primal Must-Have Superfood Snacks that are easy to purchase, relatively inexpensive, and extremely satisfying to the body.

{Read our article on the importance of soaking nuts.}

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Must-Have Superfood Snacks

Macadamia Nuts

Another reason to covet Hawaiians! Just kidding of course. How could you hate anything related to that earthly paradise? The first of the Must-Have Superfood Snacks Nuts (and seeds) are likely the preeminent snack of the Paleo world. They are high in healthy fats, satiating, and our bodies are evolutionarily meant to consume them. They are low in carbs and proteins but high in beneficial fats.

Macadamia are the king of the nuts, for they are close to 80% monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) which are the best fats to ingest. (The same fat seen in Avocados and Olive Oil.) They are also replete with Omega-9 fatty acids, Manganese, Copper, and very, very low in the inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids, most insidiously seen in industrial-grade vegetable oils. Macadamia oil and butter are fantastic as well.

Drawbacks: Macadamia nuts tend to be pricey (here in Texas they are $20/lb in bulk) and some don’t like their chalky-like consistency. Also, ideally as with all nuts you should soak them to remove the aflatoxins (mold) seen on most nuts, but unless you have a dehydrator I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

If you feel that the “Mac” is too pricey for you, you could always raid the bins at your local Whole Foods for “samples” like a certain wellness coach (Cough! Cough!) and stick to the cheaper Brazil, almonds and pistachios. Note: ideally all nuts you want to consume raw and not overly-roasted since we don’t know in what they are being roasted and that could put them in an oxidative state. Also, nuts tend to be high in calories so don’t pop them in like Kit-Kats!

Incidentally, peanuts are the “ugly step-brother” of the nut world for two reasons: they are the least-nutrient dense and because they really aren’t a nut…they are legumes. Legumes (peas, beans, lentils) might have their place in your diet, but there are some insulin-related and anti-nutrient reasons you may want to stay away from them.

And of course, peanuts have that whole allergy-thing going on. (Incidentally, new study shows that introducing your newborn or toddler to nuts decreases his/her chances of developing an allergy later in life.)

Takeaway: eat a serving of nuts/day! Rotate them on a weekly basis to get the various nutrients that are specific to each nut.  They are certainly the most expensive of the Must-Have Superfood Snacks .

Buy these highly recommended Macadamia Nuts now:

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White Tea

Second of the Must-Have Superfood Snacks.  I cringe when I tell my students that “White is better than Black!” Here me out…The “colored” teas all come from the Camellia Sinensis plant traditionally grown in China and India. Black tea originates when the plant is harvested fully grown, green tea when it is an adult, and white tea when it is young.

This correlates with the taste with black being stronger in caffeine and taste and white is the lightest in both. The main reason “White is Better than Black” is that white has lesser levels of naturally-occurring fluoride (a known neurotoxin when ingested) and since it was harvested at a younger age will have lower levels of pesticides.

Regardless of the color, the Camellia plant teas have inexhaustible literature of research heralding their benefits. First of all, they only have 1/10th the caffeine level as coffee so palpitation and jitteriness shouldn’t be an issue. More importantly, tea is full of catechins, flavonoids, and polyphenols, anti-oxidants which fights against oxidative stress leading to accelerated aging and cancer.

They lower cardiovascular incidences by reducing blood pressure and LDL plaque buildup (“the bad cholesterol”) and are reputed to have an anti-microbial effect. Increase metabolism and reduce adipogenesis, the process of food being converted into stored fat, have also been seen in numerous studies.

Takeaway: Everyone in America should be drinking AT LEAST 1 cup of tea a day, if not 3-4 like most of the world. We have been ingesting this tea since time immemorial. Hey, if it is good enough for the majority of the world…it should be good enough for us. It should ideally be organic to avoid the harmful pesticides and purchased in tea leaf form in lieu of bags.

If money is an object re-steep the same bag (some brands boast those great pyramidal shaped-bags that don’t disintegrate after one steeping), but make sure you steep for as long as possible before ingesting to ensure the full benefit. Tea is relatively inexpensive so make no excuse not to drink it. Keep drinking your herbals, but find room for one of the colored teas…preferably white. (Note: red tea does not come from the Camellia Sinsensis plant.)

{Read our article on Top 4 high fat, low carb kid friendly snacks.}

Buy this highly recommended white tea now.

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85-90% Dark Chocolate

Third of the Must-Have Superfood Snacks.  I push dark chocolate on my students more than Tetzel pushed papal indulgences in the pre-Reformation era. I literally should wear a shirt at school that states “Would you like some dark chocolate?” since that it is all I ever do. I have spent more money giving away dark chocolate to my students than the GDP of Djibouti! I sometimes feel like Augustus Gloop in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory right before entering the candy room with the chocolate river when he gushes “I got to have the chocolate!” Okay enough already…

Check out our Article Cacao vs. Cocoa: What’s the Difference?
Let’s review chocolate fundamentals. Chocolate comes from the cocoa (“ka-Kow”) bean now mostly grown in West Africa and harvested by underage, quasi-serfs at gun point (“Blood Chocolate” anyone.) Milk chocolate is largely a sham in that cocoa is the 3rd ingredient behind sugar and milk and holds very little benefit. Dark chocolate removes the milk and lowers the sugar.

The percentage in dark chocolate is determined by the amount of sugar in it. 60% dark chocolate may have up to 15-20 grams of sugar per serving while 90% may have only 5 grams. Since sugar is the big boogie man of the era, develop a taste for the high-end stuff even if you enjoy the sweeter low-end 60% (commonly seen in Dark Chocolate M&Ms, Hershey’s Kiss, and Dove varieties). You really should because you are eating 4x the sugar in a 60% than in an 90%.

Similar to tea it is chock full of polyphenols, catechins, and flavonoids. It also abounds in saturated fat. Now before we panic let’s remember the old paradigm that fat makes us fat has been refuted. Carbohydrates largely initiate the insulin response in the body which converts excess carbs into fat. (I will blog later about the benefits of a high-fat intake.) In particular it contains stearic acid which helps keeps LDL “bad cholesterol” low.

Takeaway: Dark chocolate in any form is better than milk chocolate or heaven forbid white chocolate, which has no cocoa so start with reasonable portions of 60% but work your way up as quickly as possible (even try 100% Baker’s Chocolate if you dare). Cocoa has a relaxing effect on the body (similar to red wine) when left on the tongue to melt naturally. Eat a serving a day starting today.

And try to stay away from the flavored varieties because, similar to flavored Greek yogurts, they boast more sugar. Quality dark chocolate bars are expensive (Trader Joe’s has an affordable $1.75 85% Dark Chocolate Lover’s Bar, but just beware it contains GMO Soy Lecithin, a common filler not only in chocolate but most of the packaged food world.) Either way, Viva Puro chocolate as my Spanish ancestors would say!

{Read our article on the importance of fasting.}

{Read our Review Of Popular Dark Chocolate Bars.}

Buy these highly recommended dark chocolate bars.  They are my favorite.

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Berries

The fourth of the Must-Have Superfood Snacks.  Most fruits are very nutrient-dense and are quite refreshing. They are “God’s candy.” But again ask Augustus Gloop and he will tell you too much candy will make you sick. A person consuming the Standard American diet (SAD) for years will repeat the misinformed adage “eat unlimited amounts of fruits and vegetables.” Well, the latter is certainly true but the former…not so much. The body catabolizes fructose, the primary source of sugar, in fruits almostidentically to glucose initiating the insulin response. So the ideal fruit would be low in sugar and high in nutrients. Introducing…….berries!!!  Berries are the preeminent of the Must-Have Superfood Snacks.

I would like to focus on blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries in particular. Berries are anti-oxidants (cancer fighters) and numerous reputed studies demonstrate their ability to lower blood pressure, increase HDL (the good cholesterol) and improve digestive health due to their large fiber content. In fact, raspberries have an astonishing 9 grams a fiber per serving with other two berries slightly lower. Blackberries have the lowest amount of sugar of the three.

Takeaway: eat unlimited amounts of raspberry and blackberries and a decent amount of blueberries (slightly higher in sugar). Ideally buy them from a local grower and/or organic since the berries are listed in the Environmental Working Group’s (EWGs) “Dirty Dozen” most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables. If you have a sweet tooth at night, or in fact any time of the day, eat them. I do…every day for lunch.

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A. Gregory Luna

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