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health food

health food

30 3.4
Food that is good for your body and often natural or not processed
  • noun
  • /hɛlθ fud/
translation icon : alimento saludable
  • After learning about nutrition, she began to eat more health food like whole grains and fresh vegetables.
  • health food store

I mean, there's so many health claim, health foods that claim to be healthy that are clearly not.

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Examples

Synonyms

real food
vshealth food
24 2.8

Food that comes from plants or animals and is not made in factories

is specifically about items considered especially good for health
superfood
vshealth food
6 3.9

A food very high in vitamins and minerals that helps keep you healthy

is broader covering any items seen as healthy not only extremely nutrient rich

How Healthy

superfood
6 3.9
health food
30 3.4
junk food
43 1.0

Surface Forms

health food singular
health foods plural

Morphology

health + food

The meaning 'food considered good for one's health' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'health' (state of being free from illness) with 'food' (substance consumed), forming a noun–noun compound meaning food beneficial to health. This compositional logic is cross‑linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'comida saludable'), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Health food comes from the simple picture of food made to help the body, like fresh fruit, grains, or plain meals sold in early shops for people who wanted to get well. The two words health and food give the literal idea of food that helps you 'be healthy', so today it means food people think is especially good for their health.