Super-charging your body is about super-charging your nutrition, but really it's about super-charging your life. Our capacity to take in life, to experience joy, adventure and excitement is directly related to the level of our own energetic charge. We're only going to hit the trails, hop on our bike, or get on our yoga mat if our energy level is high and our life-force is surging.

Ayurveda, the Indian science of life says: You are what you eat. No big surprise there! We kind of knew that already. But what does that actually mean? Has anyone ever scientifically researched what it means to be a french fry or a Cheeto or an onion ring? I don't know. My guess is, it doesn't feel very exciting.

I think the power of foods to influence who we are depends on the quality of those foods themselves. The statement you are what you eat doesn't ring very true in a society that's not eating very powerful foods. What
we are eating might not even strictly qualify as food (simple question: are Cheetos really a food?) But I don't
want to trash talk junk food. I want to talk about super-foods. I want to tell you what they are, how they work, and how best to enjoy them.

Super-foods are foods that actually make you feel good about being what you eat. They even have the ability to make you feel great. Most foods marketed under the premise of making you feel great are not actually super-foods. They are super-hyped, over-fortified products of super-marketing ... definitely not super-foods.

Foods can make a difference, more than most of us would imagine. In my experience as co-founder of four power yoga studios, I've often helped people work through the linkages that allow them to clearly understand the connection between how strong, how balanced, or how flexible they've felt that day and the foods they ate that day or even the day before.

I'll introduce four super-foods today. There are more super-foods out there, nature's bounty doesn't hold back, but this is a good place to start. By the way, if you want to truly appreciate these super-foods, you will at some point want to buy a high powered blender. Why not look into it now? A K-tec or Vitamix are the best blenders out there. They're not cheap, but you can probably find a good deal on craigslist or ebay, and it's a small price to pay for a super-charged life.

Blending is not the only way to prepare super-foods, but it is the simplest, quickest, and best. A super-shake with all its finely blended nutrient particles is the best way to make sure your body can absorb every last ounce of nutrient-power.

While all the super-foods I'm about to introduce you to have multiple healing and strengthening properties, each of them brings its own special attribute, sort of like its own super-strength to the game. The more often we include them on a regular basis in our meals, the more we will experience these qualities ourselves. Here are the four foods and their super-hero qualities:

Cacao - Vitality
Maca - Balance
Hemp - Endurance
Goji Berries - Longevity

First let's start with cacao for vitality. This is a super-food that has been getting a lot of positive press, mostly related to its processed form: chocolate. Every single health claim that has been attributed to chocolate is actually due to cacao. Cacao is the raw chocolate bean. Its official name is Theobroma Cacao, which literally means "Food of the Gods". That pretty much says it all, but for the skeptics out there, here are some more specifics.

The number one mineral deficiency in Western societies is magnesium. A study done in France showed an astonishing correspondence between regions with magnesium deficient soils and the incidence of cancer across the country. Cacao is the best natural source of magnesium of any food in the world. This is why we crave chocolate (we're really craving cacao) when we feel tired or depleted. Cacao is also one of the top natural sources of chromium, which balances blood sugar. We've all had our share of sugar highs and lows, why not use some cacao to balance things out?

Cacao comes to us from Central America. The Mayans and Aztecs were in on cacao long before the Europeans. They used cacao beans as money, and Aztec lore had it that those who ate cacao would receive wisdom and vitality. Vitality is indeed cacao's super-power, and backing that up is its extraordinary antioxidant count. It has about 10 times the anti-oxidants of blueberries (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity or ORAC value of 26,000 per 100 grams compared to 2,400 for blueberries). Raw cacao even tops Acai on the anti-oxidant charts.

Cacao is best consumed raw. It has an abundance of vitamin C, which is all lost during processing. You can get either cacao beans or raw cacao powder. Either way, cacao makes a delicious addition to any blended super-shake. You can also snack on the raw beans, with or without the little brown parchment-type skins that are practically impossible to peel off anyway. Cacao tastes chocolatey but beware: it will seem bitter if you're used to eating the sugary processed version. I recommend blending the cacao with (or dipping the beans in) your favorite natural sweetener. My top choices are agave, yacon syrup, and honey.

On to Maca for balance. Cultivated at altitudes up to 14,500 feet, maca is one tough root vegetable. It looks like a large beet and grows where pretty much any other cultivated crop refuses to do anything. It flourishes in the harsh, high-altitude farmlands of the Peruvian Andes. Nicknamed "Peruvian Ginseng", maca is an adaptogen. Adaptogens are nutrients that function to strengthen the body and bring it back into balance, no matter which direction our physiology has gone out of alignment.

The Incas prized maca as a super-food. European settlers were having a rough time making a go of it in the Peruvian highlands until the locals decided to let them in on their maca secret. The addition of maca to the diet of Europeans and their livestock immediately restored health and fertility. Maca is a potassium powerhouse with almost five times the potassium of bananas. Potassium is essential for brain and nerve functioning and also maintains the vital osmotic balance between cells and interstitial fluids: the balance of life.

Maca also happens to have more calcium than milk (about 4 times as much by weight), and is further valued for its balancing effect on the endocrine system (our hormonal regulators) by fine-tuning the communication between hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands (which are all component parts of our endocrine system). If you're dealing with hypothyroidism, maca could be just the thing for you. Maca contains iodine, which helps to regulate thyroid function. You'll certainly also benefit from maca's 10% protein content consisting of 19 different amino acids.

It's rare to actually find maca root in this country. Unless you are planning a trip to Peru, you'll have to settle for maca powder or maca tablets. Maca powder can just be added to water for a simple drink (let the maca dissolve first, otherwise it will cake on the top of your palate, which I can tell you firsthand is not pleasant). You can also add maca powder to your raw cacao drink if you want to make a malted chocolate super-shake.

The endurance super-food hemp has been known to Western culture for thousands of years. In classical times, hemp was cultivated and used in the production of fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense, medicines and food. Another literal cash crop (like cacao, and even to a certain extent maca), hemp was used as money in most American colonies from 1630 through the 1800s. You could eve pay your taxes with it.

Modern sensitivities toward hemp have reached the polar opposite. The 20th century was officially the low-point in global hemp appreciation. Banned in most countries, hemp's fate is intricately linked to THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive ingredient concentrated in the flowering tops of female plants. The truth is, modern industrial hemp is non-psychoactive. The THC concentration had been bred to essentially zero. When you buy hemp seed or hemp protein powder at the super-market, you will be getting a THC concentration of 0.3%, far less than the 2-20% THC contained in marijuana plants. At these levels you will not feel any effects from THC and it will not show up on any tests.

Hemp seed is a super-protein food, containing approximately 25% protein. It helps to rebuild and rejuvenate your body, thus qualifying for its status in our super-food universe as the endurance food. Protein itself comes in many different varieties. Hemp protein occurs 65% in the form of edestin, a highly usable protein that constitutes a significant ingredient of DNA.

Another reason hemp promotes endurance is its unique profile of essential fatty acids (The reason they are essential is that we can't produce them ourselves. We need to obtain them from food.). For anyone who is trying to avoid fats or fatty acids at all costs, let me just say two things: 1) Your brain is made up of about 60% fatty acids. Cutting them out will eventually damage your brain. 2) Efficient metabolism depends on sufficient quantities of essential fatty acids. If you get the right dosages of fatty acids, you will actually start to burn fat more effectively.

Back to hemp seed's unique essential fatty acid profile. I don't want to go into great detail on the topic of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, because there are reams and reams of research, books, articles, etc already dedicated to this topic. The simple (and over-simplified) version of this debate is that omega-6's are mostly inflammatory, and omega-3's are mostly anti-inflammatory. Since some inflammation is actually healthy and beneficial for healing, we should be taking our omega-6's (the inflammatory ones) and our omega-3's (the anti-inflammatory ones) in a ratio of about 2:1. Hemp has that exact profile, which makes it perfect for healing and perfect for endurance (the ratio of omega-6's to omega-3's in the Standard American Diet is anywhere from 20:1 to 50:1 ... totally out of whack!).

Hemp seeds can be sprinkled on top of any food for a little added nutty flavor and chewability (so sprinkle it over salads, soups and sandwiches). I find hemp is at its culinary best when used as the basis for a smoothie or shake. One of my favorites is a cacao shake: 1/2 cup hemp seed, 1 heaping tablespoon cacao powder, salt and sweetener to taste. Throw in a tablespoon of coconut butter for extra smooth texture. Blend it all up with two cups of water. Hemp protein powder can be used the same way you would use any other protein powder.

Rounding out the fab four is goji, the longevity food. I don't know if you're into legends, but this super-food has a good one. Goji legend has it that Li Quing Yuen, an expert herbalist, discovered the benefits of goji berries at the age of 50. From that day on, he consumed a bowl of goji soup daily, and lived for another 200 years (until 1930). I'm not sure that legend has all the facts right, but goji is possibly the most nutrient dense food out there.

Goji berries look like a cross between a raisin and a cherry. Gojis contain 19 amino acids (including all 9 essential amino acids), more vitamin C than oranges, 13% protein, more betacarotene than carrots, along with 21 trace minerals, including germanium, an anti-cancer trace mineral rarely found in foods. Gojis are also packed with polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are highly complex carbohydrates. This means they are sugars, but of course no ordinary ones. They fortify the immune system through T and B lymphocyte activation. Polysaccharides also function as an anticoagulant, reducing the stickiness of platelets, thereby lowering the risk of arterial buildup.

Four of the eight polysaccharides in goji berries are unique to gojis. This particular polysaccharide combin
ation has been found to stimulate the secretion of rejuvenative human growth hormone by the pituitary gland. The aging process in humans is a process by which the levels of our hormones go down. This affects all hormones, in particular human growth hormone. So by increasing the secretion of this hormone, gojis actually slow down the aging process.

Gojis taste like they look: a cross between a raisin and a cherry. I like to eat mine cold/refrigerated. They take on an almost crunchy texture that way. A perfect trail-mix would include gojis, hemp seed, and cacao beans. Just throw them in a bag, shake it up, and you're ready to go. I don't know the recipe for goji longevity soup, but I'm still working on it!

Foods are such a powerful presence in our life. Whether we know it or not, they're influencing everything from the way we think, the way we feel, to the way we move. So whether you are looking to break out of old patterns, try something new, super-charge your life, or just have fun, I encourage you to tap into the astonishing powers of super-foods!

Philippe Wells is the co-founder of Prana Power Yoga. He and his wife Taylor teach the four day Prana Cleanse program combining yoga with super-foods in January, May and September each year. He is co-teaching the Prana in Mexico retreat from January 17 - 24, 2009, a fantastic one-week opportunity to experience the perfect combination of yoga, meditation, and healthy nutrition. Check out pranapoweryoga.com for more information. Have the best day ever!