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Browse your local health food store or the supermarket health food aisle and you’ll see superfoods, wholefoods, functional foods, and now new in town, ‘pure-state foods’.
Confused with all this health food terminology? Here, we break it down for you.
First, there’s the humble wholefood , an unadulterated food in its purest-as-possible state…Think organic fruit and vegetables, whole grains like brown rice, raw unshelled nuts and wild caught salmon.
Then there are functional foods, which can be processed so to offer a health benefit, like calcium-fortified orange juice, iodine-enriched bread and grains turned into vitamin and mineral-rich cereal flakes. It’s a shame about the latter, seeing whole grains are naturally nutrient-dense, yet are stripped of their nutrients (like B vitamins) during processing, only to have them added back in at the end to compensate.
Moving onto superfoods , loosely defined as those highly concentrated in certain nutrients. However superfoods sound a little less super when considering that some are unpalatable in their wholefood state. Antioxidant-rich cacao beans for instance are extremely bitter; To counteract this, many food companies process pure cacao beans into foods like dark chocolate bars sweetened with agave syrup, an undesirable sweetener due to its high fructose content.
Then there are gold-star, pure-state foods; which are functional, whole superfoods with a clinically proven health benefit Pure-state foods provide a wide range of nutrients, while remaining minimally processed. Mayver’s specialty is pure-state spreads, made from nothing but natural ingredients which have been handpicked, lightly roasted,crushed, blended and bottled.
Here’s how pure-state spreads set themselves apart from those other supposedly ‘healthy’ supermarket spreads:
Pure-state spreads have no added oil or hardened fats: Read the ingredients in most commercial peanut butters and margarines and you’ll find most of them contain vegetable oil…While this sounds healthy, the vegetable oils in these spreads may have undergone ‘hydrogenation’, where the fats are hardened to create a desirable consistency, yet become undesirable trans fats in the process. Mayver’s pure-state spreads on the other hand contain no hardened fats…So while the oil may separate in a Mayver’s spread, that’s because a pure-state food doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not.
Let’s talk about sugar: Why add heaps of sugar and empty kilojoules to a spread when hazelnuts, almonds and cashews provide plenty natural sweetness? And if you’re trying to wean your kids off sugar-laden chocolate spreads, put Mayver’s all natural, dairy free Dark Chocolate Super Spread on their toast instead (Top with sliced banana and they might be pleasantly surprised!); This is the only spread in Mayver’s range with a little added sugar – Just 6 g of sugar/100 g (That’s just over 1 tsp per 100g), whereas your average chocolate spread has more than 54 g of sugar/100 g!
They can be easier to absorb: Whole nuts and seeds can require A LOT of chewing for optimum nutrient absorption…Mayver’s spreads may make your job at breaking them down easier, as their nuts and seeds come to you stone-ground.
They are extremely versatile: One pure-state spread can be used in multiple ways, from sweet to savoury. Creamy, calcium-rich, pure-state tahini is great in hummus, or as a filling for pitted Medjool dates. Or try pure-state peanut spread like Mayver’s Super Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter made from Australian peanuts and a l’il sea salt; Rich in the heart-healthy monounsaturated fat oleic acid (also found in olive oil), it’s delicious swirled into banana porridge, or in a healthy homemade satay sauce.
They fill you up: Ever feel like no matter how much margarine you spread on your toast, it’s never quite enough? Or that you could eat half a jar of reduced fat peanut butter in one sitting? Highly processed or low fat spreads are not real foods, lacking the well-rounded mouth-feel and flavour of pure-state foods. With pure-state spreads, less is more; One tablespoon of these good fats and you’re satisfied.
Mayvers have just bottled nature’s guilt-free, dairy-free all natural choccie fix in a resealable jar! Mayver’s new Pure-State Dark Chocolate Super Spread is an all-natural chocolate nut butter made from just Chia, Sesame, Almond, plus 4 ‘super’ nuts and a little natural dark chocolate that’s simply been crushed, blended and bottled. With no added oil, salt, gluten or dairy it’s deliciously crunchy, high in protein (19g per 100g) and has only 6g/100g of natural cane sugar. Mix it up with smoothies, spread it on your favourite snack or eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar! www.mayvers.com.au