Maqui Berry News

The Battle for the Title of Ultimate SuperBerry

It’s the ultimate face-off between the ultimate Superberries!  The skins are off.  We put the Maqui berry and the Acai berry in the proverbial ring to settle once and for all which will come out on top as the clear winner of the Number 1 Superfruit in the world.

In the left corner, we’ve got the reigning superfruit champion, the Acai Berry.  Sporting a skin of deep blue, and coming to us from the Amazon jungle and tropical forests of South and Central America, the Acai’s quiet confidence is visibly shaken.

In the right corner we’ve got a worthy contender: the up and coming Maqui Berry.  Wearing a skin of deep, rich purple, and coming to us from the Patagonia Region of Chile and Argentina, the once overlooked Maqui has stepped into the limelight and has taken the health and nutrition community by storm.

The weigh in:

The Acai berry, measuring 25 mm in diameter, grows on tall Acai Palm trees.
The Maqui berry, measuring 4-6 mm in diameter, grows on a small evergreen tree.

The claims:

Both the Acai and Maqui berries have properties that implicate health benefits in humans.  These properties include detoxifying/ cleansing, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, immune support, treatment for common ailments such as fever, sore throat, diarrhoea, and more chronic ailments such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The products:

The market is presently flooded with Acai products such as juices, powders, and capsules.  The Maqui berry will be marketed in much the same way, but at present its healthful reputation remains untainted by the scams and schemes that have plagued Acai berry products in recent years.  The Maqui crops yield a modest harvest compared to the Acai crops, and only a select few facilities are processing Maqui at this point in time.  As a matter of circumstance, the Maqui has assumed an almost exclusive status, and therefore demand for the Maqui berry is on the rise.  The juices are made from a berry concentrate and water/ other fruit juices mixture, and legitimate nutritional supplement capsules are made from pure, freeze-dried berries to preserve their optimum potency and benefits.

The science:

Superficially similar in many ways, what sets the Maqui berry and Acai berry apart is their science.  For instance, the Acai berry contains omega 3 fatty acid, while the Maqui berry contains omega 9 fatty acid.  Both omegas are good for your health, and if you have your heart set on Maqui, you can find omega 3 supplements at your local drug store and eat other foods rich in omega 3.

The Maqui and Acai berries are rich in Antioxidants and Anthocyanins, and arguably, these are the “active ingredients” that place them at the top of the superfruit charts. Their antioxidant levels and properties differ greatly from one another, however, and the scientific community has reviewed the data and has come to a unanimous decision:  when it comes to being an absolute powerhouse of Antioxidant health benefits, the Maqui berry is the indisputable winner of the Ultimate SuperBerry title.  Here’s why:

The Maqui superberry has exceptionally high levels of antioxidants called anthocyanins and polyphenols.  Anthocyanins are antioxidants present in pigments of blue, red, or purple in the skin or flesh of fruits and berries.  The Maqui berry’s deep purple color yields the highest level of anthocyanins and polyphenols, and as such the Maqui berry has the highest level of antioxidants of all known fruit and berries in the world.

One of the most common methods of measuring antioxidant levels was developed by nutrition researchers at TUFFS University, who created the ORAC scale.  ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (a food’s antioxidant ability to combat and neutralize the effects of free oxygen radicals in the system).  The Maqui berry has the highest ORAC value of all known fruit and berries, weighing in with 27,600 ORAC units/ 100g.  To put this in perspective, the Acai berry has an ORAC value of approximately 16,000 units/ 100g, falling considerably short of the Maqui berry’s potential.  The Maqui berry’s ORAC values are more than 3x higher than Pomegranate, 5x higher than Blueberry, and 100x higher than red wine.  There is no comparison.  The Maqui berry is the Number 1 Super Berry.

Nutritionists estimate that the human body needs a minimum of 12,000 ORAC Antioxidant units per day to maintain current health status.  Studies show that the average North American and European diet delivers only 3-5,000 units per day.  The health benefits of an antioxidant-rich diet are quite compelling, and ongoing research continues to pour into unlocking the full potential of the Maqui berry.  Major research has been undertaken at the University of Chile’s Medical School and intense Maqui berry studies persist, with the World Health Organization writing a 5 million dollar grant to conduct additional medical research into the superberry’s benefits.

The Winner:

The science doesn’t lie.  When you pit the Maqui berry against the Acai berry, the Maqui berry wins the title, and the scientific community’s support, as the Number 1 Superfruit in the world.

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