Blackcurrant Nutrition and Benefits

We eat a pastry or a cake and we like it. We drink a glassful of its juice and we relish it. We have never thought of it has anything more than just another fruit, may be. We have never associated with it medicinal benefits or curing powers. We have never connected this fruit to be one of them to be included in our healthy dream diet. Not many of us are even remotely aware of this fruits impact on the human body. The fruit in focus here is a blackcurrant. Although studies have proven that it is one of those rare fruits that have a rich collection of all the required nutrients, it has been largely ignored. Blackcurrant has potassium content which equals that of a banana and has three times more of Vitamin C content than that of the citrus king, orange.

Blackcurrant contains a high percentage of vitamins. It is not just the presence of vitamin C that makes this berry a natural health tablet, but also the presence of Vitamin A, vitamin B and Vitamin E. They also have the much desired GLA. Gamma Linolenic Acid or GLA is very important for the human body. Along with these nutrients, they also contain fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 and sugar components. Many medical practitioners rightly name the blackcurrant as the ‘king of berries’ as it can combat a myriad of diseases that have been haunting mankind from time to time. Besides these health enhancing compounds, a blackcurrant contains rich antioxidants. The presence of antioxidants has contributed towards the existence phytochemical nutrients such as Quercetin in them. This phytochemical component, Quercetin has cancer fighting capabilities. Besides quercetin, another powerful phytochemical that a blackcurrant has is anthocyanidins. Anthocyanidins contributes towards the color of the fruit. These phytonutrients have the ability of fight anti-aging and anti-inflammatory components.

A balanced diet should have a good share of antioxidants in them. There are two good ways of measuring the level of antioxidants in our regular daily diet. There are: ORAC, Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and TEAC, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity. The role of antioxidants is to neutralize the free radicals that are present in the food. Medical research has proven that having blackcurrant in our daily diet, be it in the form of jams, juices, syrups, nectars or desserts, can help us attain that right amount of antioxidants. With all these essential and health nourishing components present in blackcurrants, they can cure a wide range of diseases. They have healing capabilities for diseases as deadly as cancer, arthritis and cardio-vascular accidents. They can also cure ailments such as ulcers, diarrhea, hypertension, premenstrual symptoms, cramps, eczema and many others. So the next time you drink a glass of blackcurrant juice or eat that yummy slice of blackcurrant pastry, you will know that you are doing your body a huge favor and protecting your body against several diseases.