Why you CAN’T ‘supercharge’ your smoothie with a powder

Have powdered superfoods appeared on your radar yet? Once only available in health food stores, you’ll now find these in most supermarkets.

They can be used in smoothies or sprinkled over your meals to provide all the goodness of a ‘superfood’, without you having to source fresh turmeric root, baobab fruit or wheatgrass plant, and eat it whole.

It sounds tempting, but there’s a certain scepticism among experts about the notion of superfoods in the first place, let alone a powdered form.

As Bahee Van de Bor, a specialist dietitian at Great Ormond Street Hospital, explains, the term ‘superfood’ is ‘deceptive’. 

‘It suggests that a single food is superior to all others and that’s not true,’ she says. 

‘We know that for health, long life and disease prevention, we need a combination of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients.’

‘The term “superfood” is more of a marketing myth than a nutritional truth,’ agrees dietitian Linia Patel, a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association. ‘It generally refers to a food that is thought to be particularly nutrient dense.’

But what about the idea of getting even more bang for your nutritional buck by condensing a healthy food into powdered form?

Despite many of the powders making reference to high levels of vitamins and minerals, that isn’t always a positive.

‘If you’re eating real food, you’re unlikely to “overdose” on any one vitamin or mineral,’ says Bahee Van de Bor. 

‘After all, you’d have to eat a whole pile of liver every day to run the risk of overdosing on vitamin A.

‘However, because these powders contain such concentrated amounts, it might be possible, especially if you are taking a number of other supplements, to exceed the recommended amount.

Despite many of the powders making reference to high levels of vitamins and minerals, that isn’t always a positive (pictured is Proto-col Green Magic)

‘For fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A, where any excess can’t be excreted, that’s potentially a problem. For example an excess of vitamin A can result in hair loss.’

Another frequent claim is that these powders are rich in antioxidants, substances that can protect cells from damage.

But Nicole Rothband, a specialist dietitian, says some still use the outdated ORAC method of measuring antioxidant capacity. 

‘This is a measure of the antioxidant capacity in a test tube not the body and products that claim or even imply potential health benefits from products with high ORAC are contravening European Food Safety Authority regulations.’

Linia Patel concedes that our lifestyles have become faster paced and that often the intensively-farmed food we have access to doesn’t have the same nutrient quality as it might have done in the past, but that doesn’t mean we should be looking for instant fixes. 

‘Supplements like these powders may have a role in bridging the gap,’ she says.

‘If you’re having a smoothie anyway, it might make it more nutritious, but it should never be a replacement for a meal.’