FEATURE
Camu Camu: Defend yourself with
Peru's super berry
By Alex Malinsky
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| With its high vitamin C content, expect to see camu camu used for smoothies and drinks more frequently. (Photo: Getty Images) |
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The Peruvian Amazon rainforest is home to a shrub that, when it
matures into a bush around four or five years old, sprouts a
berry called camu camu. The reddish and purplish fruit are
approximately the size of a cherry, look like a cranberry and
have a tart taste. Rarely eaten plain and usually added as a
supplement to other foods, the camu camu berry is the superfood
with the highest known level of vitamin C on the planet. One
teaspoonful of its powder form in a glass of liquid twice a day
is enough to give the user an immediate energy boost and to
strengthen the immune system in defense against many ailments.
The camu camu berry is a storehouse of a rich amount of
vitamins, amino acids and bioflavonoids. Its high vitamin C
content makes it one of the latest of the Amazon's vast natural
wonders to achieve growing popularity. The berry also contains
minerals such as calcium, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin,
phosphorous, iron and beta carotene. More study is needed to
give a full breakdown of its content, but amino acids like
serine, necessary for overall mental and nervous system health,
is found in the berry. Camu camu also contains 30 to 60 percent
more vitamin C than an orange.
Herbalists of the Amazon have traditionally lauded its medicinal
ability to increase vitality, fight off colds, herpes and other
viruses, detoxify the liver, grow white blood cells and support
the circulatory, among other things as well. In its powdered
form, where it is usually mixed in a base of sweet tapioca
starch for taste and easy digestion, the berry is accessible to
a larger population of people. Those who use synthetic forms of
vitamin C, known to cause upset stomachs and even allergic
reactions due to the large quantity ingested for medicinal
needs, will find the camu camu powder a much better choice.
Strangely, although the camu camu cannot compete with synthetic
C in milligrams per teaspoon of vitamin C, the berry's total
mixture of natural ingredients make it the winner in
effectiveness.
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The camu camu
berry grows
along the rivers
in Peru's Amazon
Rainforest. |
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Camu camu is not very picky about where it calls home. It is a
rather easily grown plant. Though traditionally it has been wild
harvested for centuries by the indigenous peoples of Peru where
the climate is hot and humid, it is now being commercially grown
by farming companies outside of the rainforest. Camu camu can be
successfully grown in cold, rainy and subtropical climes. This
varied harvesting of course produces fruit of different
qualities so the consumer would want to read labels to find the
efficacy of any particular brand. For instance, in the dried
powder form some varieties amazingly increase their
concentration of vitamin C content over what is found in the
full berry state.
How is it used? Well, in the Amazon the wild berry is crushed
and the acrid juice is separated and added to desserts like ice
creams, pies and candies. Camu camu berry powder is mostly mixed
into water or juice as a supplement. It can be added to blended
drinks like smoothies. With the market expanding Amazonians have
taken to marketing it as an additive in cosmetics and hair
products. It is said to be useful as a hair straightener. Its
uses are only beginning to be tapped by the foreign markets.
With no known drug contraindications or side effects save for
those associated with high vitamin C usage camu camu berry
powder shows potential of becoming more and more of a household
name.
Source: Living in Peru
www.livinginperu.com
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