Blackcurrant

Nutrition:

These fruits are rich in vitamin C, organic acids, essential oils plus many other nutrients. They also have phenolic compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

Traditional medicine uses blackcurrant extracts to manage a variety of illnesses including cancer. Today, there is a vast amount of research that shows the positive effects of blackcurrants on heart, brain and kidney diseases.

Health Benefits:

Anti-inflammatory effects

Inflammation can cause a range of illnesses, including heart, live and kidney diseases, arthritis, urinary tract infections and chronic kidney disorders. Blackcurrants contain anthocyanins which are a type of polyphenols that can suppress the activation of pro-inflammatory components in the immune system.

Lower blood cholesterol levels

Blackcurrants are rich in anothcyanins which have been shown to cause a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL levels. High levels of LDL cholesterol increase the risk of cardiovascular, liver and other metabolic disorders. The fruit can also increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

Research shows that blackcurrants are full of antioxidants which prevent the oxidation of lipids in the body. This could prevent the onset of obesity and chronic conditions like atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

Brain Health

The fruit extract inhibits lipid peroxidation in the body, which protects the central nervous system. If the central nervous system is not protected, free radicals can grow and could trigger neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The growth of free radicals often leads to inflammation of the brain cells, the anti-inflammatory effects of blackcurrants can reduce neuroinflammation. As a result of these properties memory, learning and cognitive abilities can improve.

Typical Uses:

blackcurrants can be consumed raw or as a juice.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6566326/

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.906.1147&rep=rep1&type=pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4192974/