Organic Superfoods

Before the grid below, a quick tour of what is actually in these tins and what each one is for.

What are superfoods

There is no legal definition of the word, in Britain or in the EU. Nobody has to meet a standard to print it on a bag. What it tends to describe in practice is a food with unusual nutrient density, so a small measured amount is worth adding to something you were eating anyway. That is a modest claim, and it happens to be the true one.

What the label is allowed to say

Vitamin C and immunity

Vitamin C contributes to the normal function of the immune system, to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, and it increases iron absorption. Camu camu is the extreme case on this page, with roughly 3 grams of vitamin C per 100 grams of fresh fruit against 30 to 40 milligrams in lemon juice. Acerola is the same nutrient without the pucker, which is why it disappears into a yoghurt without anyone noticing.

Protein, iron and everyday energy

Protein contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass. Hemp Protein runs at 48 percent, whole hemp seeds are over 30 percent fat and rich in omega-3 and 6, and organic soy chunks bring the same nutrient in something you cook. Iron contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and to the reduction of tiredness, and raw cacao beans are a solid source alongside magnesium and calcium. For the mushrooms, shilajit and most of the herbs, no health claim is authorised and we do not invent one.

Popular superfoods explained

Berries

Organic goji berries come dried from plantations near China's Yellow River and are as happy in a savoury dish as on porridge. Freeze-dried acai is 2 to 3 grams a day and tastes of blackberry and dark chocolate. Golden berries, grown and processed in Peru, land closer to pineapple and mango than to anything you would call a berry.

Powders

Moringa is a leaf powder with a 5 gram daily ceiling, better as a seasoning than a drink. Baobab is dry and citrus-sharp, and carries six times the antioxidants of blackcurrants, six times the potassium of bananas and twice the calcium of milk. Matcha is shade-grown for three to four weeks before harvest, which is what pushes up the theanine.

Mushrooms and one Himalayan resin

Button and field mushroom powders are salt-free savoury seasonings and belong next to the stock cubes rather than in a smoothie. The 7 Mushrooms Organic Mix is organic and halal certified. Chaga extract holds at least 30 percent polysaccharides. Shilajit is not a mushroom or a plant at all but a resin from rock crevices, at 20 percent fulvic acid with selenium added.

How to use them

Treat them as ingredients, not doses. A spoon of cacao powder into a chilli, moringa over roasted vegetables, nettle steeped for ten minutes as a tea, mushroom powder stirred into gravy. The one thing worth measuring rather than eyeballing is anything concentrated: moringa at 5 grams, acai at 2 to 3 grams, maitake at 500 milligrams per 15 kilograms of body weight.

Storage, dose and shelf life

Sealed, cool, dark and dry covers almost all of it, and most powders carry 24 months from manufacture. Once a bag is open the clock speeds up, so decant into something airtight. Acerola is worth a second look at the label: it is one of the richest vitamin C sources here, it contains maltodextrin from corn, and total daily vitamin C across everything you take is worth keeping an eye on.

Why buy your superfoods from Zamnesia

The range is deliberately wide rather than deep in one fashionable ingredient, almost all of it certified organic, and it ships quickly and discreetly. If you are starting out, take one powder and one berry rather than six of everything.