Secret Superfoods: Introducing Maqui Berries
Looking to add new superfoods to your diet? Maqui berries are loaded with yummy flavor, and more importantly, the most protective compounds of any superfruit on the market today.
We’ve discovered a slew of superfoods over the last five years–from goji to acai and everything in between. But the hippest berry to hit the health nut circuit is the maqui berry. Found in the southern part of Chile in the heart of Patagonia, the maqui berry is grown in the wild and harvested by the Mapuche Indians. Maqui berries literally grow like wildflowers, up mountains and down hillsides, so abundantly that this superfruit doesn’t even need to be planted, Mother Nature does all the work.
The Mapuche Indians are well known as fierce warriors, one of the few tribes that were never conquered in the Americas. Maybe this berry had something to do with it. They’ve been using it for centuries to treat everything from a sore throat to diarrhea, ulcers, fever, and tumors.
Here’s why maqui berries are considered superfoods: It’s loaded with the most protective compounds of any superfruit on the market today. Of particular interest are the anthocyanins, purple pigments with high antioxidant qualities similar to what’s found in concord grapes but in much higher quantities. The compounds in these superfoods have natural anti-inflammatory characteristics with none of the side effects of medications.
The maqui berry’s protective qualities are thought to slow cell degeneration while enhancing immunity and brain function. It has high amounts of delphinidins, an anthcyanin, which may also inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells in the body.
The best part about this superfruit is that you get to eat it. Unlike supplements, the body directly assimilates food into your system. You’ll enjoy the immediate amp of the maqui. Here are a few options for enjoying this tasty berry:
- Enjoy maqui powder in a smoothie, in a raw dessert, your morning oatmeal, or even consider adding it to this delicious chia seed pudding.
- Sip on maqui juice.
- Maqui supplements (though as stated above, food options are always best.)
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Image: Morrana
