Marketing companies always seem to be on the lookout for the latest new “super berry”. These products are heavily marketed as a cure-all for many problems. They make a lot of money, tend to be sold through multilevel marketing and for a time become the “hot thing”. There have been many throughout the past few years. Goji berries, Mangosteen, cherry juice, pomegranate juice, acai berry, etc. These products tend to have a couple of things in common - they have some limited scientific backing for health claims, they are fruit based, they are exotic and like all fruits have high levels of vitamins, antioxidants and other beneficial compounds in a pleasant tasting product.
The concept behind many of these products goes like this. Our scientist was in a remote village where all the people are healthy. These people had no computers/stressful jobs or fast food, they get lots of fresh air, exercise in the form of manual labor, have strong family and social support in the village, eat fresh food they raise themselves, and are very happy and content. The scientist determines that the reason these people are so healthy compared to the average American is they eat a particular berry!
It is important to remember that these products are marketing and not medicine. Some of these fruits are used in traditional herbal medicines. They should be used based on a herbal diagnosis as a tool to help a patient adopt a healthy lifestyle, rather than be a cure-all answer by themselves. If you radically change a bad- fast food style diet by adding large amounts of concentrated fruit- the body functions differently and the person feels better for a time. Eventually that affect wears off as the person adapts to having more fruit in the diet. This is why many people use these items for a time and then move on to something new.
That is not to say that any of these products are bad for your health. The point is that health is a function of lifestyle. If you want to use a “super berry” to help you improve your health, it is important to remember that nature has provided local super berries that are just as powerful as the exotic products. Buying local cranberries, blueberries, black berries, raspberries and cherries is a tasty way to improve your health, and support Wisconsin farmers.
To find a nationally board certified herbalist who can help you better your health go to NCCAOM
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