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This tiny berry packs more antioxidant firepower than most fruits and can infuse your diet with a cheery color. Here’s everything you need to know about one of the world’s most nutritious fruits.
Meet maqui berry. The mysterious fruit that is gaining a reputation as a nutritional hero. Maqui is considered a “functional food” because it’s especially saturated in protective compounds like anthocyanins. Plant chemicals that go the distance in offering support against a range of health woes and aging faster than we would wish. Read on for why you want to work it into your diet more often and tasty ways to do so. Yes, it might be blue, but there is nothing sad about eating maqui.
Firstly, what is Maqui?
Maqui berry (Aristotelia chilensis) is an exotic, dark-purple fruit (more of an intense blue hue to our eyes) that is native to South America where it grows on a small, evergreen tree. It’s sustainably harvested by the Mapuche indigenous people of Chile, who have used the leaves, stems, and berries medicinally for centuries. Here, it is sometimes referred to as Chilean wineberry. Many people describe the berries as having a taste that’s similar to blackberries, but with a richer, deeper flavor and a hint of tartness. So good!
Today, maqui berry is marketed as a “superfruit” due to its high antioxidant content and potential health benefits, including reducing inflammation, improving blood sugar control and boosting heart health.
In America, you are much more likely to find maqui in powder form instead of fresh berries. Using sustainably harvested berries from Chile, Navitas Organics Maqui Powder is processed in a careful way that locks in the nutrition of the berry so you are not missing out by failing to nosh on the fresh berry. If fresh berries were sent to grocers in America there might be a significant loss of nutrition during transport.
1. Packed with Antioxidants
Maqui berries house a trove of antioxidants, more so than more common berries including strawberries and blueberries. This means this berry is pure wizardry for your brain, heart, and skin health. In general, antioxidants work by stabilizing free radicals, unstable molecules that can cause cell damage and inflammation that contributes to accelerated aging and disease progression. In a four-week clinical study, people who took maqui berry daily had significantly reduced blood measures of free radical damage, compared to the control group.
In particular, they’re rich in a group of antioxidants called anthocyanins, plant compounds that lend maqui their stunning deep purple color. In recent years, there has been a raft of research generated about the health-hiking powers of going big on anthocyanins. For instance, higher intakes of these power plant chemicals have been linked to better brain functioning and heart health.
2. Good for Your Gut
Exciting research suggests that anthocyanins like those present in maqui can help influence the composition of our microbiome in a way that could have a range of benefits including improving digestive and brain health. It’s thought that these antioxidants serve as a fuel source for the beneficial critters in your digestive tract helping them proliferate. And as the microorganisms feast on anthocyanins they produce bioactive compounds that can have a positive impact on health by slowing disease progression. The impact that antioxidants have on the microbiome could be a big reason why science suggests eating a diet with more colorful fruits and vegetables is protective against various maladies like heart disease and cognitive decline.
3. Great for Your Skin
As with other berries, you can count on maqui to be a source of vitamin C. A large study review published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition found that higher intakes of vitamin C can be protective against developing heart disease and certain cancers. It’s also worth knowing that vitamin C is required for the biosynthesis of collagen, the most abundant type of protein in the body whose function is to help form structural scaffolding that supports organs and soft tissues. Think of it as the “glue” that holds everything together. It’s not just in your skin but also your bones, muscles, hair, nails, cartilage, ligaments, and blood vessels. So this is one way that somewhat indirectly vitamin C can help keep your skin looking young and fresh and also your joints performing well.
4. Helpful for Sugar Control
While more research is needed, it appears that consuming maqui may help improve blood sugar control which boosts metabolic health. The payload of antioxidants in the exotic fruit might be responsible for this health benefit.
Adding maqui to foods like smoothies and yogurt is a great way to add natural sweetness to your diet making it easier to cut back on the added processed sugars in your diet. And scaling back on the amount of added sugar we eat is one of the most important steps that can be taken to improve blood sugar and health outcomes. When you eat the naturally occurring sugars in fruits such as maqui you are also getting the micronutrients, antioxidants, and fiber with it. This is not the case with white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. To be honest, the sugar in fruit is even more desirable than less processed sweeteners like maple syrup and honey which aren’t as nutritious as fruit.
How to Add Maqui to Your Diet
As a shelf-stable powder, it’s possible to include maqui in your diet in a variety of ways.
- Use in smoothies and smoothie bowls
- Mix into salad dressings
- Stir into yogurt and cottage cheese
- Add to baked goods like muffins
- Include it in homemade energy bars and balls
- Use in popsicles and ice cream for a pop of color
- Add it to your DIY kombucha mix
- Incorporate the powder into chia pudding and chia jams
- Stir into your morning oatmeal
- Making a frosting? Add maqui powder to make it stand out.
No-bake Fruity Maqui Bars
Consider these bars as a fantastic source of clean energy, before a workout or mid-afternoon when you need a pick-me-up.
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup pitted dates
¾ cup dried cherries or dried blueberries
½ cup dried apricots
⅓ cup dried currants or raisins
3 Tbsp. Navitas Organics Maqui Powder
2 Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. Navitas Organics Chia Seeds
¼ tsp. salt
DIRECTIONS
Place dates in a bowl, cover with hot water and let soak at least 30 minutes (skip this step if using softer Medjool dates).
Drain dates, pat dry with a paper towel and add to a food processor container along with remaining ingredients. Blend until mixture sticks together.
Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Add fruit mixture to pan and spread out in an even layer. Place in freezer until very firm, 2 or more hours. Remove pan from freezer and slice fruit mixture into desired-sized bars. Keep bars chilled.
