With high amounts of protein, fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, the sea buckthorn berry is a powerful food.
Sea buckthorn berries are small, bright orange or yellow fruits which grow on shrubs at high altitudes in the Himalayan region where the locals often referred to it as the ‘holy fruit’. While the sea buckthorn plant bursts into bloom with small yellow flowers in April, the bright berries ripen between August and December.
Sea buckthorn berries are edible, healthy and very nutritious. It has a tart, surprisingly tropical flavour, tasting almost like a combination of lemon, pineapple and gooseberry. Sea buckthorn is becoming better known in the culinary community, and dishes and cocktails containing sea buckthorn have made it onto many high-class menus. As a flavour, it pairs particularly well with citrus fruits such as orange.
Sea buckthorn is also known by a couple of alternative names, including seabuck, seaberry, sandberry and sallowthorn.
What makes sea buckthorn a superfood?
Sea buckthorn has been used for centuries in herbal medicines as a natural remedy against various ailments. The leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruits of the sea buckthorn plant are all used for their medicinal properties.
Sea buckthorn is a powerful food as it boasts all of the omegas – 3, 6, 9 and the rare omega-7. It also contains minerals like magnesium, iron, and calcium as well as A, E, and B-complex vitamins. With a fat content of 7% and lots of healthy fat-soluble vitamins, the fruit allows your body to process the nutrients directly. Touted as one of the most nutritious and vitamin-rich foods in the world and offering benefits both internally and externally, sea buckthorn is quickly becoming as popular as acai berry and pomegranate.
When we think of a natural source of vitamin C, often oranges come to mind first. But what if we told you that a single sea buckthorn berry contains eight to sixteen times more vitamin C than an orange? A 100g serving of sea buckthorn boasts 400 to 800mg of vitamin C. Meanwhile, 100g of orange provides just 53mg.
Vitamin C is important to our immune system and heart health. It helps our body to convert cholesterol into bile acids and, as a result, helps lower our blood cholesterol levels. What’s more, vitamin C increases the absorption of iron, a key component of haemoglobin, and protects our body from the damage caused by free radicals, toxins and pollutants. Vitamin C also contributes to the formation of collagen. Collagen is a protein which gives many of the tissues in our body structure, like our skin and connective tissues like ligaments and tendons.
Why do people take sea buckthorn?
For hundreds of years, sea buckthorn has been used in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines for its medical and nutritional qualities. It is used to stimulate the digestive system, enhance heart and liver health, and treat skin disorders. Today, sea buckthorn is touted as a natural remedy for the following health problems:
- diabetes
- eczema
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- inflammation
- rosacea
Sea buckthorn is thought to remove free radicals — molecules that can damage cells. But so far, most scientific evidence is from animal studies.
In recent years, sea buckthorn oil has gained popularity as an ingredient in skin-care products. When applied topically, sea buckthorn oil is thought to moisturize the skin, ease irritation, treat acne and heal aging-related damage.
How to add sea buckthorn into your diet?
If you are convinced to give this super berry a try, the good news is that it’s very easy to incorporate it into your daily routine.
If you Are fine with tart flavours and want a refreshing drink to kick off your day, we recommend this Organic Sea Buckthorn Juice. Add a few tablespoons to water, orange juice or smoothies to smash your daily vitamin C goals before breakfast.
You can also enjoy as an herbal drink at any moment of your day.
