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It’s always better to get your nutrition from natural food sources, rather than a supplement. However, our foods are not what they used to be, due to several factors including hybridization and depletion of the nutritional quality of the soil. So that’s where superfoods can play a valuable role in our diet by providing us with a high concentration of nutrients in a form that our body recognizes and can readily assimilate.
Camu Camu berry is an Amazonian fruit that is known to offer the highest concentration of vitamin C of any plant in the world. So when Maju Superfoods approached me to try their organic camu camu powder I was happy for the opportunity. I’ve previously sampled their California-grown spirulina, which is excellent quality and one of the best brands of spirulina I’ve ever used, so I was looking forward to trying another of their products.
Camu camu contains thirty to sixty times as much vitamin C as oranges, which means you don’t need to take much to significantly boost your daily intake. A teaspoon of camu camu powder provides 1180 percent of the recommended daily intake for vitamin C. Maju Superfood’s Camu Camu is 100 percent raw, so this ensures that the maximum amount of vitamin C makes it into the final product.
Plus unlike an isolated supplement, it comes packed with natural plant compounds that enhance the absorption and function of vitamin C in the body. This is a really important factor that should not be overlooked when considering supplementing your dietary nutritional intake.
As just one example, in a study of twenty male smokers, some drank camu camu juice and others took vitamin C tablets daily for a week. The men in the camu camu group showed a reduction in markers of oxidative stress at the end of the study, compared to no change for those who had vitamin C tablets. There really is no substitute when it comes to getting your nutrition from a whole-food source.
Those of us who follow a high-fruit diet are already ahead of the game when it comes to vitamin C but you will get as much vitamin C in a teaspoon of camu camu powder as you do in a whole day of fruit-eating. This makes camu camu an excellent supplement to your diet if you are having difficulty tolerating a lot of fruit, or when you are traveling and might not be able to access as much fresh produce as usual.
Another reason to add camu camu to your diet when traveling is that vitamin C offers excellent support for the adrenal glands, which can become overworked due to changing time zones and general stress that occurs from being out of your natural environment. Additionally, vitamin C boosts immunity to help protect you from airborne microorganisms that are especially a risk with airline travel.
Camu camu has other health benefits too. Along with Vitamin C, Camu Camu contains anthocyanins, lutein, catechins, flavonols, gallic acid, ellagic acid and amino acids. These components have varying effects including functioning as antioxidants, helping to reduce inflammation, have anti-fungal and anti-viral properties, and reducing the risk of diabetes. Traditionally camu camu has been used to maintain excellent eyesight, improve respiratory health, promotes elimination of heavy metals, and support collagen formation.
It is a wonderful superfood to add to your detox protocol when there is an increased need for vitamin C to assist with the removal of toxins from the body. Those with chronic Lyme disease may also find it helpful due to the benefits of vitamin C on the collagen structures of the body, including the joints and connective tissue, which are often a target of the Lyme bacteria. Collagen is also a major component of the skin so camu camu can be a natural beauty supplement too!
Many camu camu powders on the market have a bright pink color, which is an indication that the berries have been mixed with preservatives or other additives to enhance the appearance. Pure camu camu powder – like the one from Maju superfoods – is a beige color, which is a sign that the fruit has ripened to its maximum nutritional potential and that the powder contains only the pure dried berries.
You can simply add a teaspoon of camu camu powder to water, however, its tart flavor combines really well with citrus juices. I like adding it to fresh orange and grapefruit juice or watermelon, lime, and ginger juice. It also tastes great in fruity smoothies containing ingredients like pineapple, mango or papaya. I added some to my mango and passionfruit shake and it was really delicious.
Maju superfoods are offering Raw Food Solution readers a ten percent discount. To take advantage of this special offer you can visit their website, add a product to your shopping cart, and enter the code RAWFOODSOLUTION10 when you check out.
Disclosure: Maju Superfoods provided a sample bottle of their Camu Camu for promotional purposes, however, all writing and opinions are my own.
