10 New Health Foods You’ve Never Heard Of

This anti-inflammatory and antiviral vegetable looks like a cross between a cabbage and a beet. Chock-full of fibre, potassium, vitamin C and antioxidants, it gets an A+ for superfood status. 

Brought to you all the way from Ethiopia, teff gives quinoa some tough competition. The gluten-free grains look like tiny seeds, and are high in calcium, iron, protein and amino acids. Teff is the perfect gluten-free substitute for anything made with flour.

Said to be Ghandi’s favourite food, this leafy green is classified as a weed, but it’s eaten in salads throughout the Mediterranean. Thought to have the highest amount of Omega-3 fatty acids of any leafy green, Purslane is high in antioxidants, vitamins A, C and B and melatonin. Not crazy about kale? Try salads with this superfood instead.

While it may sound strange, once you hear its amazing health benefits, we promise you’ll be pining for bee pollen. Incredibly high in protein (about 40 per cent), it’s high in antioxidants, vitamin B12 and all 22 amino acids. Mix it into your oatmeal, yogurt and smoothies for the perfect energy boost. 

Move over acai berries, there’s a new superstar berry in town! Aronia berries, also known as chokeberries, are a tart berry that grow wild in North America and have recently been cultivated in the Midwest. According to the USDA, they have almost twice as much antioxidant power as cranberries and four times as much as pomegranates, strawberries, goji berries and blueberries. 

If you’re a big fan of Mexican food, you may have heard of tomatillo, but this powerhouse fruit can do more than make delicious salsa. An amazing antioxidant, tomatillo is chock-full of vitamins A, C and E as well as phytochemical withanolides, which have been shown to be anti-inflammatory, a cancer-cell suppressant and anti-bacterial. While they’re known as the Mexican tomato, they’re actually related to the gooseberry, and contain much more minerals than their red comparison. Higher in copper, iron, phosphorous and manganese, tomatillos blow tomatoes out of the water when it comes to health benefits. 

This versatile vegetable has many talents. Loaded with vitamin C, potassium and fibre, their health benefits range from treating constipation to controlling blood sugar levels and lowering cholesterol. Chayote squash doesn’t have much taste, so it picks up the flavours of whatever you cook it with–a major bonus that makes incorporating it into your daily diet easy.  

Just three quarters of a cup of this amazing superfruit provides 39 per cent of your vitamin D requirement. Originating in the Andes of Peru, sweet-tart pichuberries also contain vitamins C and B12, iron, protein and cancer-fighting compounds called withanolides. This berry really packs a punch! 

While you may have heard of matcha (green tea Frappuccino, anyone?), you’ve likely never heard of its incredible health benefits. Not only does the powerhouse antioxidant kick-start your metabolism, it can also help lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar. The perfect alternative to coffee, it’ll give you a healthy jolt from a small amount of caffeine and tons of energy-boosting nutrients. 

Have you met tofu’s cousin, tempeh? It’s more flavourful, less processed and generally contains more protein and fibre. Also made of fermented soy beans, tempeh makes an ideal alternative to meat. Whether you’re a vegetarian or not, we can all benefit from eating more meatless meals and tempeh is a delicious way to do it.