Maqui Berry Research
Maqui (pronounced moc-kee) has only recently been discovered by the west. Maqui berries come from the productive and fertile area of Chile, Pantagonia.
The berry was discovered by the western world through the work of John Hancke of the University of Chile, though the indeginous people s - the Mapuche Indians - have been known to use them for hundreds of years for a variety of reasons and treatments.
John Hancke at the University of Chile has made studies on the Maqui berry, and found that it reduces allergic reactions, inflammations and some visual and physical signs of aging if taken regularly. One of the most important results was the discovery that Maqui berries have a high antioxidant content which is known to boost the bodies immune system so as to fight off infections and illnesses.
To be able to measure antioxidant content in foods, the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, devised a scale called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). It is this that you will see referred to on any foods that have any kind of impressive antioxidant content. As soon as this scale was devised, many foods were tested to discover the foods with the highest antioxidant content. At the time, one of the highest foods was the blueberry. Then, with the discovery of the acai berry, that topped the charts. And now, the maqui berry has leaped in to first place (with the proviso that procsssing plays a vital roll in the final potency of any of these).
Brunswick Laboratories is one of the top US scientific laboratories specialising in the analysis of botanicals. They are widely used by top companies who need verification of herbal/botanical ingredients and their analysis. Brunswick have developed a "Total ORAC" analysis, which as well as rating the antioxidant content, also measures it's efficay against the top five "free radicals". Free radicals are the molecules that are resposnible for much tissue breakdown, which leads to those visible and painful signs of ageing, ad well as other more serious health issues.
Brunswick's Total ORAC analysis showed that the Maqui berry sample had an ORAC score of 820 - much higher than any of the other botanicals they had tested:
- Maqui berry: 820
- Acai berry: 160-300
- Blueberry: 61
- Raspberry: 21
- Grapes: 14
Another recognised and important reference source, the Journal of Agriculture & Food Chemistry goes about analysising antioxidant content of botanicals differently. Their antioxidant analysis includes tests on:
- DPPH - Free radical collecting properties by the diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical.
- FRAP - Ferric- reducing antioxidant power.
- TRAP - Total radical trappic potential.
- TEAC - Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity.
By using these tests, the results agreed with Brunswick's findings that the Maqui berry has far higher antioxidant content that other botanicals to date:
DPPH ORAC FRAP TEAC Maqui berry juice 207.1 133 55.0 127.8 Pomegranate juice 50.1 25 8.1 41.6 Red wine 35.2 25.7 4.3 18.7 Blueberry juice 20.6 20.6 4.2 15.0 Cranberry juice 19.2 15.4 2.7 10.4 Acai juice 18.3 19.5 3.8 12.8 Orange juice 12.7 7.4 1.5 4.2 Apple juice 11.8 4.8 1.2 3.6 ORAC values are for 1 ml of juice.
Now while Maqui is best used as an antioxidant boost, there are many companies claiming that the Maqui is the weight loss solution. While it may help with weight loss, like any other botanical, weight loss will only happen when Maqui is taken as part of an overall lifestyle change. Sorry, but there is no all natural magic weight loss botanical.
Saying that, a recent study was taken on 250 men and 250 women. For the object of this test, they were put in 3 different groups. Group one was given Maqui twice daily; Group two was given Acai twice daily; Group three was put on a strict diet and exercise regimen. They were left on this regime for 6 months, and then the results gathered. While all the groups lost weight, the group taking the Maqui lost more weight than the Acai group, while both these felt that they had more energy and vitality.
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The Maqui berry we recommend: Maqui Berry