Biotest Superfood
Biotest is a brand name that’s pretty well-known in bodybuilding circles. It’s owned/operated by T-Muscle (formerly known as “T-Nation”), an online resource devoted to bodybuilding training and nutrition. “Superfood” is one of the newer supps in the Biotest line, and is composed of a spectrum of standardized, vegetable/fruit extracts.
Manufacturer’s Description: “What we’ve done is taken 18 incredibly potent, freeze-dried super extracts of WHOLE fruits and vegetables and combined them in what we believe is the perfect superfood. We chose each for their almost drug-like properties, and put them together in one incredibly potent, incredibly concentrated, incredibly easy-to-use powdered supplement.
No fillers, no extra flavoring agents, no sweeteners, nothing extra — just pure superfood.”
Product Label:
| Serving Size: 5 g (2 scoops)Freeze-Dried Super-Concentrated Extracts 5,000 mg BERRIES: wild blueberry (1.5% anthocyanin), orange (40% vitamin C), raspberry (20% allagic acid, 0.7% anthocyanins), strawberry, acai berry (1.5% total phenolic acids, 1% anthocyanins), coffee berry (50% total phenolic acids), goji berry, pomegranate (40% ellagic acid) VEGETABLES: broccoli sprout (5000 ppm sulforophane), kale, spinach (700 ppm lutein), wasabi (20% glucosinolates), wild yam (20% diosgenin), green tea (95% total polyphenols, 65% total catechins, 40% EGCG)OTHER FRUITS: apple, mango, passion fruit, watermelon (1000 ppm lycopene) |
Comments: Biotest Superfood is one of many such high-ORAC food-based concentrates currently on the market, which are promoted as surrogates for vegetable/fruit intake. Biotest goes one step further than most, however. In addition to claiming their supplement is “…equivalent to eating between 10 and 12 average servings of fruits and vegetables”, the company also insists it makes vitamin and mineral supplementation “obsolete.” This claim is pretty ironic, as there is NO vitamin or mineral information listed on the container or web site to back this up. Needless to state, plant antioxidants are supremely healthful – but they aren’t replacements for essential vitamins and minerals. Thus, this line of reasoning:
As such we’ve always preferred to get our vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and various phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, you know as well as we do that it’s hard to ingest anywhere near the proper amounts of fruits and vegetables every day. Who’s got time to eat 4 servings of fruits and 4 servings of vegetables every single day?
…Enter Biotest’s Superfood.
…We discarded the notion of coming out with a vitamin pill composed of conventional, lab manufactured vitamins and minerals. Instead, we’ve chosen the whole-food route.
…is illogical. It’s great to get your vites and minerals from fruits and vegetables vs. pills – but to imply that an apparently vitamin-/mineral-less antioxidant supplement can replace the vites and minerals supplied by whole fruits and veggies is ridiculous…it’s comparing apples to oranges (no pun intended). Extracts contain only those elements soluble in the extraction solvent. Saying they’re nutritionally equivalent to whole foods is like saying cornstarch is nutritionally equivalent to an ear of corn.
NOT.
Beyond the exaggerated claims, however, the product itself appears to be pretty well-made. It’s one of the few I’ve seen that uses (some) standardized extracts, and the ORAC value is fairly impressive: 5,315 per serving. It also handles quite well: it dissolves thoroughly in water and isn’t the least bit gritty. Quality-wise, it appears to be good stuff.
Unlike some competing products, however, Biotest Superfood is NOT sweetened or flavored in any way. On the one hand, this is a good thing, as users don’t have to pay for superfluous additives, but the downside is that it really doesn’t taste very good. It’s not horrible, either, mind you…the flavor, such as it is, is actually rather faint: it tastes like slightly tart, broccoli/berry tea-flavored water (if you can imagine such a thing). So it’s drinkable as is, although I thought it was best added to other things. For example, during my taste-tests, I typically dissolved it in a glass of water, then added a scoop of chocolate protein powder, which covered the taste and color up completely.
Overall, I liked Superfood – for what it is, rather than what Biotest pretends it is. It seems like a great way to add some additional antioxidant phytonutrients to your diet (and certainly better than using Mona Vie or other MLM “superfruit” products)…although it’s still not a replacement for the fiber, minerals (especially potassium) vites and complete spectrum of phytonutrients found in whole veg/fruits. It’s a good product, but it’s best used as an addition to – not a replacement for – what Mother Nature provides.
[usrlist “Taste:2.5” “Quality:5.0” “Efficacy:3.5” “Value:3.5″ avg=”true”]
