Super foods are foods or foods in supplement form that offer a wide variety of nutrients. The super foods in this list focus on foods that are easy to incorporate into a diet. They can be substituted for popular, less healthy versions of themselves and have surprising and interesting health benefits.

Quinoa (keen-wah) as a Superfood

This whole grain doubles as a perfect protein, making it great for vegetarians or anyone looking to get the most out of a starch. It is positively the best side dish in the grain department (even though technically it’s more related to spinach!). If you already eat rice as a side dish, the switch to quinoa will be painless and will be much more worth your time.

When cooked, quinoa’s texture is soft like rice but the particles are about half the size and round, giving the impression when tasted of slightly mealier rice. It takes about 2.5 seconds to get used to, and you’ll be packing in protein, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorous. Quinoa is, quite simply, the rice of the future and can be found at any grocery store boasting any sort of organic or health food department.

Sweet potatoes as a Superfood

According to WHFoods.com, Dr. Richard Baybutt, a professor in nutrition at Kansas State University has shown that benzopyrene, a chemical found in cigarette smoke, causes a Vitamin A deficiency. He has then linked a Vitamin A deficiency to the development of emphysema. Therefore, he theorizes that eating foods that are rich in Vitamin A can actually help prevent the onset of emphysema in smokers and secondhand smokers. Since a single sweet potato offers 262% of your daily value of vitamin A, eating sweet potatoes can actually help protect against emphysema! This is a new and exciting addition to the already impressive nutrient portfolio that sweet potatoes have to offer.

Substitute those mashed potatoes, fries, and chips with sweet potato versions and instead of packing on the pounds you’ll be packing on vitamins A and C, manganese, copper, dietary fiber, Vitamin B6, potassium, and iron.

Yogurt as a Superfood

If you eat yogurt that is live with active bacteria cultures, you will be eating what are called probiotics. Probiotics have been linked to alleviations in cancer, allergies, weight loss, and digestive problems like IBS, IBD, and diahrrea. Probiotics promote the growth of good bacteria, and good bacteria helps support the immune system’s overall function by inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria.

A growing topic in the last few years has been the revolt against doctor-prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotics kill all bacteria, good and bad, leaving your immune system actually more susceptible to other forms of bacteria. The new trend is to boost the immune system so you don’t let harmful bacteria have its way in the first place.

The calcium in yogurt has also been linked to weight loss by Dr. Perricone, author of The Perricone Promise. To prove his thesis he quotes a study at the university of Tennessee where obese people who were given higher amounts of calcium in the form of yogurt lost fat weight faster than those who were given half the amount of calcium in the form of a supplement.

Less doctor visits and more weight loss, who doesn’t like that?

Honey as a Superfood

As times goes on and consumers get more and more up in arms about the use of high-fructose corn syrup, honey will replace sugar in increasingly more products. For example, honey sweetened sodas like Dr. Tima Soda are available at Whole Foods with competition brewing across the nation.

In its own right, honey is an antioxidant, but its levels can vary depending on location. According to SuperFoodsRx, to get the most antioxidant-rich honey, look for darker colors when shopping. The organic or local sections of your grocery store will be the places to find any sort of color variances, as mass produced honey intends to look a certain way. Honey is often used to sweeten tea, but next time you order coffee or make your own, try sweetening it with honey. It tastes warmer, smoother, and doesn’t create that fuzzy teeth feeling. Oh, and it’s good for you!

Try these new superfoods and learn how easy it is to substitute filler foods for healthy, multi-tasking foods that will keep you energized and keep you looking great.