Are we obsessed with food trends and superfoods?

The UAE's influencers voice their opinions

I think in this day and age, a lot of us are spending time on and attention to our overall health and bodies. The Dubai Fitness Challenge is testament to this. However, health is not just going to the gym; it's 80 per cent what you put into your body through nutrition. And you owe it to your body to give it the best. If eating avocados and organically-sourced food is going to help, then I say, why not?
I think it's really important to understand your body, and some superfoods may just be the key to helping it perform at its optimum condition. One of the reasons I started my blog is to spread awareness about Hashimoto's disease; an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid glands, therefore making the person hypo or hyperthyroid. There are a lot of symptoms associated with Hashimoto's; these include - weight gain/loss, brain fog, dry skin, hair loss and depression. Hashimoto's often stems from a leaky gut, for which bone broth and fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kombucha are often prescribed as part of a diet. Organic bone broth, as you probably already know, is a huge superfood trend in Dubai right now. I went on a bone broth-based paleo diet for 21 days and saw remarkable results. While my lab results were relatively unchanged, I had more mental clarity, my skin was glowing and I had lost 2.5 kgs without much exercise! Sometimes, superfoods are not a trend; they have genuine scientific backing. The trick is trying to see what works for your body and how to do it in a way you can afford to.
Superfoods are often available at eye watering prices. However, a lot of these can be substituted. For example, if you think avocados are expensive, opt for nuts or include organic ghee or butter in your diet to give yourself the right healthy fats. It's a big commitment - but you might just thank yourself in the future.
- Aneesha Rai
is the food blogger behind www.omnomnirvana.com. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @omnomnirvana
Ninety per cent of "foodies" use social media with over 2 million mentions of "food" daily, in the US alone. We're obsessed with everything from avocado burgers, to rainbow milkshakes, to kale smoothies. Food trends are a multi-billion-dollar industry and our
obsession is feeding
its growth.
Case in point? Kale. It's been cultivated for about 2,000 years, but it's only taken the world by storm in the past few years, making it one of the most popular superfoods in the wellness industry. Every healthy "foodie" worth her Himalayan pink salt will sing its praises to you. Personally, I was first exposed to kale five years ago on Instagram when all the international health food bloggers I followed were suddenly cooking with it. In proper foodie fashion, I searched for it in local stores but to no avail. As the months followed, local retailers picked up on the trend and started stocking it, and now you can't escape it if you tried.
Not that I'm trying to - kale is indeed good for you, but it is comparable in nutritional value with spinach and other leafy greens that have a more forgiving price point. Nonetheless, kale flies off the shelves like no man's business. According to research carried out by Project Nosh, in between February 2016 and 2017, sales increased by as much as 391 per cent in frozen breakfast entrees with kale and 125 per cent in vitamins and supplements with kale.
So, the question really is: why are we so obsessed? Perhaps it's because in a society that's fast losing its communal values, more people are eating alone. One could argue that our obsession with following trends and posting our meals on social media is simply a way for us to feel like a part of a community (hashtag foodie).
Also, are we showing off our social privilege when posting about our dining experience at the latest hotspots? I ate here, I can afford it, I'm better than you.
This obsession could also be another quest to find ourselves a chaotic world. It's commonplace for people to describe their eating habits in their social profiles - Aussie plant-based, paleo redhead living in Dubai. They say you are what you eat, so
eat wisely.
-Gbemi Giwa
is the founder of blog www.dubaifitfoodie.com. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @Dubaifitfoodie