Superfoods are the new must-haves in your larder – distinguished usually by their deep, bright colours they are packed full of goodness and many of them are already part of the Spanish diet. Oranges, broccoli, tomatoes, olives, pumpkin, yogurt, nuts, spinach…check out a shopping trolley in the local supermercado and they’ll all be there.  Food yes, but ‘super’ – what’s that all about?

Superfoods may sound a bit Californian, and it is, admittedly, an idea from the American west coast, but you can’t get away from the increasing data that confirms their powers that go beyond normal foodstuffs.
The interest in these foods was sparked by Steven Pratt, a Californian ophthalmologist, whose book Superfoods RX: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life has sold thousands of copies.  Pratt says he became convinced of the power of super foods whilst researching age-related degeneration of the eye.  He found that his patients suffered amazing improvements to their condition after making a few basic changes to their diet. And his theory goes much further than simply ocular-related problems; he maintains that the same diet choices can prevent the onset or improve many diseases. You don’t need 20 different diets for as many complaints you just need one, he says with 20 superfoods in it. When included in your diet these foods can help prevent heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s diabetes and hypertension.
His superfoods are not hard to find and it will come as no surprise to champions of the Mediterranean lifestyle that many of them form part of Spain’s daily diet.
The 20 foods recommended by the book are:
* Beans
* Blueberries
* Broccoli
* Oats
* Oranges
* Pumpkin
* Salmon
* Soy
* Spinach
* Tea
* Tomatoes
* Turkey
* Walnuts
* Yoghurt
Since Pratt wrote his book many foods have jumped on the superfood bandwagon including avocado and pomegranate, all nuts, water melon and rice, most of which are not only produced in Spain but eaten on a daily basis. 

PICK A COLOUR
The health-giving properties of superfoods vary but when eaten regularly and in conjunction with one another they are a sure-fire way to make sure you get essential nutrients, anti-oxidants and vitamins.
One of the secrets to these foods lies in their colouring.  For example whilst the humble tomato, a staple of all Spanish salads and the biggest export crop in Almeria, is the richest source of lypocene, a ‘cancer preventer’, this can also be found in other partly red foods such as water melon and pink grapefruit, for example.  Pomegranates also fall into this category with their juice being the new ‘superjuice’ to hit the shelves in America and the UK. Seen growing in many Spanish gardens during July and August this fruit has exceptionally high levels of polyphenols – antioxidants that prevent free radical damage by limiting the build up of plaque in arteries. And moving onto orange – the original superfood list says pumpkins, which are grown and eaten in Spain, but you can also go sideways and choose sweet potato, butternut squash and orange peppers. Sticking with orange, this time the fruit, and one of Spain’s biggest success stories – it is the most readily available source of vitamin C, which in turn lowers the rate of the big killers cancer and heart disease.
But just in case you thought you could carry on eating the burgers and taking supplements Dr Pratt has some bad news:  “It is impossible to manufacture a supplement that has all the nutrients found in food.  For example there are more than 8000 polyphenols (antioxidants) in foods.  Can you imagine manufacturing a product that has over 8000 ingredients…?