Here at That's Fit, we're constantly telling you what we think about things, but sometimes it's nice to know what you think. So from time to time, we'll ask you a question. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we love feedback.

When is a food truly super? And when is it just another food with a really great marketing campaign behind it?

In many ways, food is like fashion. Certain items come into vogue ... and they can also lose their popularity. Take eggs for example -- for years they were vilified for cholesterol, now they're seen as an overall healthy food and weight loss aid. The superfood du jour may change -- blueberries, pomegranate, acai and so forth -- but the hype is the same. If you're to believe the advertising, these superfoods are a must for everybody. What do you think?

Hurry, Quick. Get yourself some acai berries. I hear they taste just like a combination of red wine and chocolate (Family Circle, February 2009 tells me so). They also happen to be chock full of disease-fighting antioxidants so apparently, you just can't go wrong with this superfood.

Not familiar with anything acai? Give this superfruit smoothie a try.

In a blender, combine one and one-fourths cups plain soy milk, one cup acai juice (available in natural food stores), one-fourth cup orange juice, one large mango (peeled and cut into chunks) and one cup frozen blueberries. Blend well. And drink. Detect any red wine and chocolate in there?

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When a food item becomes a health trend, it starts popping up everywhere -- from energy drinks to sodas to diet pills, sometimes even in shampoo. The acai berry trend is one of the more recent nutrition buzzes... but is it worth all of the fuss?

According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, acai berries are rich in antioxidants and are a very nutritious food. However, Dr. Oz states that acai is as good as any other healthful food, not any better. One reporter and her husband decided to try out the acai diet -- he took capsules and she used a powdered drink mix. Not only was it expensive, the drink was gritty, and neither saw any weight loss results. And the cleansing drink that came with the acai diet was completely gag-inducing.

The lesson here is to not go overboard. When nutrition news hits the media, the marketing folks clamor on board and try to sell as many products as possible based on very limited science. Acai is a great food to incorporate into your diet but if you're expecting it to help you magically lose weight, cure disease and unclog your kitchen sink, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

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The blueberry muffin: an eternal favorite, bursting with moist flavor, sabotaging diets everywhere. Your love of blueberry muffins doesn't have to translate to bigger hips; you can have your muffin and your slim figure.

The trick is this: adding more nutritious ingredients while cutting out the excess bad fats and calories. In a past post, Jessica has rehabbed blueberry muffins into a pretty decent healthy breakfast treat. Let's take it several steps further.

Add more nutrition
Blueberries are one of the top antioxidants, but you can add more goodies to your muffins to make them even more nutritious:

• sunflower seeds, which also add a nice crunch, about 1/4 cup
  
• lemon peel and/or juice, zest and juice of one lemon
  
• whole oats, about 1/2 cup
• chunks of other fruits, like apple, pear or other berries
• nuts of your choice, 1/2 cup
• ground flax seeds, about 1/4 cup

You are what you eat, right? Since women have unique nutritional needs, like extra calcium and iron, it is important to address those differences through healthy whole foods.

If you need a little help knowing what the best foods are, Nursing Degree has put together a comprehensive list of the 100 best foods for women. What's nice about this list is:

• these are foods that are good for everyone, so we can serve them to our families.
• the list is segmented into categories: foods for overall health, bone health, skin health, weight loss, antioxidants, and other nutritional focuses.
• there are a variety of choices under each category, so you can pick and choose the foods you like.
• dairy is not stressed as the best food source for bone health, which is great for those who are allergic to dairy or simply don't believe it is a healthy food.

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I always thought blueberries were tops when it comes to antioxidants. Nope. The acai berry (pronounced "ah-sigh-EE") takes tops honors and may beat out every other fruit or vegetable by a mile, says RealAge. Consider this: The freeze-dried berry has 30 times the disease-preventing anthocyanins of red grapes. Sounds pretty good to me.

Acai berries are so good they can help lower cholesterol, minimize inflammation, fend off arthritis, and fight cancer -- in one study, the berry extract killed between 45 and 86% of a sample of human leukemia cells.

Antioxidants aside, acai berries are also full of B vitamins, magnesium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, and sulfur. Want to give them a try? Stop by your local health food store for juices, smoothies, and other products containing the nutritious fruit.

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Goji, noni, mangosteen, acai, they're exotic sounding foods from far off countries, and juice makers are bottling them with a promise that these super juices can protect you from diseases with their ultra-high levels of antioxidants. But can these ultra expensive juices in fancy bottles really improve your health?

Australian consumer organization Choice recently compared some of these exotic juices and the results might surprise you. Though they are high in antioxidants, they often aren't any higher than fruits and vegetables that you can find (and even grow) in your own backyard. And though there are a handful of studies that link these juices to disease prevention, studies involving humans are lacking.

It's your heard earned dollar, so you're welcome to spend it how you wish. But keep in mind that all of the juices tested had a lower total antioxidant capacity (TAC) than a red delicious apple, a fruit that will soon be in season and can be purchased for less than a buck.

(Thanks, Diet-Blog!)

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