Nutritionist reveals 2 overrated, 4 underrated health foods
She has a bone to pick with these products.
Nutritionist Claire Sorlie is spilling the tea on the two “health foods” she believes are overrated — collagen powders and probiotic supplements — and four she finds underrated — bone broth, raspberries, sauerkraut, and Sleepytime tea.
“Items your grocery list does & doesn’t need!” Sorlie captioned her TikTok, which has captured more than 40,000 views since it was posted this month.
First on the list are collagen powders, which are intended to boost skin elasticity, make hair shinier, and strengthen bones, among other improvements.
“Don’t get me wrong, there are some good collagen powder brands,” Sorlie explained. “I just found in my clinical experience that my clients get better results with things like their hair, skin, nails, joint health when we use a whole-food source of collagen versus a powdered form. They also tend to be highly processed, have weird, funky additives, [and] can contribute to gas and bloating.”
Sorlie instead recommends bone broth, a collagen-containing liquid made from boiling animal bones and connective tissue.
She prefers Bonafide Provisions Organic Bone Broth for its “simple ingredients” that “taste amazing.”
Also underrated are raspberries, which “have a decent amount of fiber,” Sorlie said.
One cup of red raspberries is said to contain 8 grams of fiber.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends consuming at least 28 grams of dietary fiber a day.
On the overrated list are probiotic supplements to help with gut health and digestive issues.
“There are very specific instances where I use probiotic supplements with my clients,” Sorlie noted. “But if we’re just trying to get a daily dose of probiotics, food sources like sauerkraut are a much better option and often contain more strains of probiotics.”
“Don’t need to consume a lot — with sauerkraut, you can start with just one teaspoon per day,” she continued. “Sauerkraut is something that will contain pre- and probiotics [and] tends to be a little bit more affordable.”
But buyer, beware — a 2014 analysis of sauerkraut studies found that while the fermented cabbage boasts “a variety of beneficial effects on human health … it can also cause some unwanted or even allergic reactions.”
And finally, Sorlie is a fan of Sleepytime tea.
“These herbs listed in the ingredients will not only help you get to sleep but also stay asleep,” she shared as she showed a box of Sleepytime caffeine-free herbal tea, which contains chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn, and rosebuds.