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The Seabuckthorn Berry – Champion Superfruit

By Eliza Bicknell of Lotus Petal Yoga

The term ‘superfruit’ is often used and abused with the popular media. Some fruits are richer in antioxidants and have a higher degree of nutrient richness than other fruits as well as potential health benefits. One thing I have learned while researching superfruits, for my web page (see below) is that in addition to these things, the fruit must also be new and marketable, it needs to have exotic appeal. The strawberry and the grapefruit for example,have a high degree of nutrient richness and antioxidants like the other 'superfruits' but are not considered 'superfruits' as they are not new and different and cannot be marketed any more creatively than they already have.

One fruit I had never heard of before but now through research have come to believe is the champion ‘superfruit’ is the seabuckthorn berry.

Grown across Europe and Asia in dry sandy areas with lots of sun, the seabuckthorn plant has silvery colored leaves, brown flowers and the berries are small, soft, juicy and bright orange. There are 6 species of the seabuckthorn plant and 12 subspecies.

I have yet to see them as fruit in a store and therefore I have never tasted one straight up. I am told they are bitter and unpleasant to eat raw. The juice from the berries can be mixed with apple juice or grape juice to make the flavor a bit sweeter. The berries can also be used to make jams, pies and liquor. The berries are rich in antioxidants and have nutrient and phytochemical properties that may be beneficial in the treatment of inflammatory disorders such as cancer and heart disease.

The fats in the sea-buckthorn, saturated and polyunsaturated, can be extracted from pressing the berry and used for cosmetic purposes such as anti-aging skin crèmes and moisturizers. Currently I use the oil under my eyes to reduce wrinkles. I have noticed a difference since I began using it so I would say it works. It does turn your skin orange when you apply it but that goes away so I always apply it at night!

Biological studies done on the Sea-buckthorn suggest that much of it's restorative action to the skin is due to a combination of its high content of essential fatty acids (EFA), carotenes, tocopherols (vitamin E) and phytosterols, which are all important for the maintenance of a healthy skin. The EFA content in the Sea Buckthorn oil extract is 80 - 95%.
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Sea-Buckthorn berries also have a unique combination of vitamins and minerals usually only found separately. The vitamin C content is among the highest for any plant (4th after rose-hips, hot chili pepper and sweet red pepper, 12 times greater than that found in oranges). Sea-Buckthorn berries also have a high content of vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamins B1, B2, K and P and beta-carotene. The beta-carotene content is what gives the berries their color.

In China, sea-buckthorn has been used traditionally for thousands of years as an herbal medicine to relieve cough, aid digestion, invigorate blood circulation and alleviate pain. In addition the oils have been used to relieve skin irritations and wounds. Bark and leaves have been used to treat diarrhea. Since the sea-buckthorn berry components have potential anti-carcinogenic activity and anti-inflammatory effects, it has been added to medications for pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cardiac, blood and metabolic disorders in Indian, Chinese and Tibetan medicines.

photo source:http://site.wealthopportunitynow.com/images/exfuze_oskg.jpg

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

Superfruits Facts
Exposes the real superfruits from the hype
www.squidoo.com/superfruits-facts

Well... They LOOK interesting. But what's wrong with just strawberries and grapefruit? We're being bombarded every day with this "super fruit" stuff. Are there any downsides to any these fruits?

I have not heard of many downsides to any of the 'super fruits' but I have learned that the acai berry which is promoted to help lose weight actually have not been proven to help people lose weight and is popular due to marketing and not any real superior value of the fruit itself.

Yes, it's strange how something that has never been heard of is so much better than the well known fruits and veg. Is it a marketing ploy? Usually yes they have invariably found a free source and to enable them to place a high price tag on it call it 'super'! Acai was subjected to a great deal of hype to promote it as a super fruit now we have gone on to buckthorn!
What's wrong with eating the organic fresh produce you can grow in your garden? It doesn't have to be shipped half way around the world, and probably contains as much or more in the way of nutrients than something that has spent time traveling and then being processed.
There are also many methods of processing and not all the processors are ethical.

adge747 Feb 19, 2010 08:00

Great article, I love learning about the nutritional benefits of various foods and their growing environments. I'm always looking for nutritionally dense foods that I can grow in our organic garden. The bitterness of the Seabuckthorn berries would really put me off though I think.

I heard an interview with Daniel Vitalis, he lives in New England and was talking about surviving in the wild and eating the wild edibles. He said most of them are intensely bitter and you wouldn't be able to eat enough of them to survive on and that the bitterness was the 'medicine' of those plants. So basically they are that bitter because we aren't meant to eat a great deal of them. So I wonder about these 'superfoods' that we would never be able to eat in their natural state. Are we meant to be consuming them in the volumes that all the hype tries to sell us on? Is bitterness in foods related to the amount of alkaloids or something like that?

I'm with James and adge747, what's wrong with what you can grow right in your garden? Organic, non-hybridized, as fresh as it comes, and raw. That's how I've been eating since last year and the difference I notice far exceeds anything I get from any superfood I've ever tried. I worked at health food stores for many years so I've tried a lot, and still am. I've lost excess weight, cellulite has disappeared, I have tons of energy, look and feel younger. All the claims that these expensive superfoods make, but it costs next to nothing.

Donna Miller Feb 21, 2010 23:21

A very well written and interesting intel, Eliza. You have obviously done some good research on this one.

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