We all have our favorite foods, but Michael Geraghty, the Irish body coach and fitness guru who’s made a splash on social media in recent months, has reminded us of the distinction between regular food and superfood, which is a marketing term for foods with supposed health benefits. As someone with a strong take on fitness, Michael enjoys many aspects of maintaining health, from working out to eating, which he claims is “one of [his] favorite things to do,” with the different textures and flavors that come with it. Michael has learned as well to enjoy cooking and experimenting with ingredients to “discover new sensations of food.” As he has stated, “Without good food, our bodies do not get what they need to function.”
Since superfoods are so important to Michael’s bodily health, he wrote a list of his favorites and how he uses them. For instance, Michael has a particular love for beetroot, which is heavy in calcium, iron, vitamins A and C and full of fiber. As an athlete, Michael is always looking for opportunities for harder workouts, and beetroots have shown to help athleticism by increasing muscle oxygenation. One can grate beetroot, add a teaspoon of Manuka honey, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, before throwing it over some heat—this in itself has proven to be a delicious side dish for many of Michael’s dinners.
Another superfood is spinach, which provides large doses of iron our red blood cells use to transport oxygen around the body including the cardiovascular system, which Michael places focus on. He uses spinach as the base for most salads or chops it up to leave uncooked in pasta dishes. Additionally, avocados work for Michael as versatile fruit that help that cardiovascular system he’s fond of. Loaded with mono-unsaturated fats and various micro-nutrients, avocados are said to lower cholesterol among other benefits. When not throwing them in salads, Michael believes avocados make great homemade guacamole, requiring two soft avocados, chopped garlic and red onion, lime, and salt and pepper.
Garlic, what Michael and others say should be in abundance in kitchens, may cause bad breath by its strong scent, but it adds flavor and does many things that potentially benefit the body including reducing blood pressure, by Michael’s words. As a flavor enhancer, garlic has been helpful for many of Michael’s Mexican, Asian, Italian, and even roast chicken meals.
And finally, sweet potatoes have proven to be another favorite superfood of Michael’s, being filled with antioxidants, lower in starch than average potatoes, and said to contain 70% of our daily vitamin C. Michael has chopped them into chips, mashed, and baked them, providing an alternative for others to consider in their diets.
