18. Chia Seeds
Many runners began incorporating these small seeds into their diet after Christopher McDougall’s 2009 bestseller, Born to Run, described them as nutritionally equivalent to a mix of “salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone.” But a few recent studies—like one in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and one in the journal Nutrients—have found that the seeds offer runners no performance benefit. Talbott says these popular seeds are good from a “general nutrition” standpoint. That is, they provide macronutrients—including omega-3s—but there isn’t much super about chia seeds beyond that.