Camu camu health benefits, uses and side effects

What is camu camu?

If you already know a bit about camu camu, feel free to skip ahead to the next section. However, if you’re not familiar with the fruit, a quick primer might be useful. Then we’ll go into more detail about the many possible camu camu benefits you can enjoy.

So let’s begin with the basics. Camu camu is a small, round berry that’s native to the Amazon rainforest. About 2-3 centimetres in diameter, the berries grow on a bushy tree called Myrciaria dubia. You can find the plant alongside rivers and on marshland in Peru, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

The berries start out a pale yellow colour, then gradually darken to red and purple as they ripen. Camu camu berries have a very tart and sour taste, which means people don’t often eat them raw. Instead, you can grind the berries into camu camu powder or drink camu camu juice diluted with water. We’ll talk more about how to use camu camu powder later. For now, rest assured that it’s easy to add to your diet!

Although not commonly seen in supermarkets in the west, camu camu is becoming increasingly popular with health food enthusiasts. This is thanks to the wealth of potential ways camu camu benefits your wellbeing. Time to find out more!

The amazing health benefits of camu camu

Like with many traditional functional foods, research into how camu camu benefits our health is still in its infancy. However, so far, we’ve seen some exciting results that support using the fruit to boost wellbeing.

For instance, both test tube and human studies have found that camu camu can work to reduce blood pressure.(1) This is thanks to its ability to promote the dilation of blood vessels, which enhances blood flow. High blood pressure is surprisingly common, and if left unchecked may lead to stroke, kidney disease, or vision loss. That means it’s important to monitor yours – and camu camu could help you to keep it in the safe zone.

In addition, evidence indicates that camu camu benefits your blood sugar management.(2) Consuming it may work to minimise spikes in blood glucose after eating, plus improve insulin sensitivity. Both could enhance your blood sugar control and reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes.

Interestingly, camu camu benefits could extend to your gut health too. Studies on mice have found that the fruit can have a positive influence on the gut microbiota. It may be able to increase levels of good bacteria while simultaneously decreasing bad bacteria. This is important for everything from brain health to immunity.

The results additionally indicate that camu camu benefits weight management. It does so by increasing the number of calories burned, while also lowering cholesterol levels and preventing visceral fat deposition.(3) Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for our physical and mental wellbeing in many ways, making this a key potential strength of the fruit. However, further research is necessary in order to clarify whether these findings apply to humans.

C the light: camu camu benefits from vitamin C

Several of the ways in which camu camu benefits your health are down to its impressively high vitamin C content. It’s among the richest plant sources of this key vitamin, with up to 3,133mg per 100g of camu camu pulp.(4) That’s far higher than in more familiar options such as oranges and lemons. The best part is that camu camu powder benefits you even more than the fresh berries in this regard. That’s because the amount of vitamin C is generally higher per gram, as it’s so concentrated.

As you’re probably aware, vitamin C plays a number of crucial roles in our wellbeing. For instance, it helps to strengthen and support the immune system, enabling you to fight off infections more effectively. Vitamin C also promotes wound healing, and even improves the body’s ability to absorb iron. Iron, in turn, is critical for maintaining healthy blood and getting oxygen around the body.

In addition, vitamin C is necessary for our bodies to make collagen. This is a protein found in connective tissue everywhere from your bones to your tendons and blood vessels. It’s also vital for skin health. A lack of collagen can contribute to skin ageing, leaving it less elastic and increasing the chance of developing wrinkles. So it’s possible that camu camu benefits your complexion too!

Finally, vitamin C is also a potent antioxidant. That means it protects our cells from damage caused by free radicals. Experts have linked this oxidative stress to a multitude of harmful conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. You could therefore say that camu camu benefits extend to almost every part of the body!

Camu camu benefits: from antioxidants to anti-inflammatories

Vitamin C is far from the only antioxidant camu camu contains. The fruit is also bursting with potent flavonoids that help fight free radical damage, such as anthocyanins and ellagic acid.(5) Ellagic acid may even have neuroprotective effects, protecting brain function and staving off cognitive decline.

What’s interesting is that this combination of antioxidants might mean camu camu benefits you more than taking vitamin C alone. Studies indicate the fruit can lower oxidative stress and inflammatory markers more effectively than vitamin C supplements.(6) This is one reason why we are firm believers in obtaining nutrients naturally from plants rather than taking synthesised supplements!

Speaking of inflammatory markers, research suggests camu camu benefits our health through its anti-inflammatory properties too.(7) This is thanks to the presence of compounds such as ellagic acid and betulinic acid. Evidence links chronic inflammation to a number of health concerns, from arthritis to dementia, making this a key advantage. Moreover, camu camu could function as an antihistamine, potentially helping to ease the symptoms of allergies.(8)

So, now that you know what it can do, let’s look at ways to harness these amazing camu camu benefits. As we mentioned above, it’s really easy to incorporate the fruit into your diet.