Superfruits

Have you ever wondered which fruits top the list when it comes to offering an array of health promoting compounds? Scientists continue to explore the fruits that have helped bolster the health and well-being of cultures around the world with their powerful antioxidant punch. Here’s a tribute to some of the best and brightest fruits that have taken center stage as the world’s most promising super fruits.

Pomegranate
One of the earliest cultivated fruits, the pomegranate is an ancient food with healthy qualities that have echoed throughout the millennia. A symbol of health, fertility and rebirth in its native Middle East, the tart and juicy seeds of the pomegranate have been enjoyed as a fruit for centuries.¹ Once a seasonal novelty in the West, today the pomegranate, its juice and extracts are widely available and acclaimed for their health benefits, which are attributed in part to their polyphenol content. Polyphenols are a family of plant compounds that are powerful free radical scavengers and are being intensely studied for their diverse biological activities.1 Pomegranate fruit contains an abundance of polyphenolic compounds such as anthocyanins, catechins, ellagic tannins, and gallic and ellagic acids.1,^2†

Açai
Açai is a dark purple berry indigenous to the Amazon rainforest that is renowned as a nutritious and powerful fruit. Traditionally consumed in South America as a dietary staple, açai berries have gained tremendous popularity around the world due to the protective anthocyanin compounds that give the berries a rich, dark color and their antioxidant potency. Açai has been recently deemed one of nature’s super fruits for good health because it was noted to have a high ORAC (oxygen-radical absorbance capacity) value–twice that of blueberries.³ The Natrol brand offers a wide variety of açai products including AçaiBerry, AçaiBerry Diet, and AçaiBerry Weekend Cleanse.^†

Blueberry
North America’s native super fruit, the blueberry is a nutritional powerhouse and one of the first fruits to enjoy status as a super star. The blueberry was catapulted to super star status when researchers at Tufts University analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capability and blueberries came out on top, rating highest in their capacity to destroy free radicals.⁴ Packed with phytonutrients known as anthocyanins, the blueberry is bursting with an abundance of these red-blue antioxidant pigments that give this super berry its notable color and its renowned health bolstering qualities.^†

Cranberry
A cousin of the blueberry, the tart, red cranberry is one of the most commonly consumed fruits due to its widespread recognition by women for its ability to support urinary tract health. Its health benefits have long been recognized, first by Native Americans who used cranberry to support urinary tract and bladder health, and by researchers who have confirmed its ability to benefit women’s health.⁵ Cranberry is a storehouse of antioxidant phytochemicals⁶ that give this super berry one of the highest rankings of any fruit for its phenolic acid content.⁷ The abundance of antioxidant compounds in the fruit has spurred researchers to actively investigate cranberry for a wide variety of health benefits.⁸ Natrol^® Cranberry is a concentrated cranberry extract that offers consumers a way to boost their daily intake for optimal health.^†

Combine super fruits for ultimate antioxidant protection
If you’re like most Americans that need a quick way to boost their daily antioxidant intake, consider Natrol^® JuiceFestiv®, the ultimate fruit super food that contains 23 fruit concentrates including the powerhouse combination of pomegranate, blueberry, açai, and cranberry plus antioxidants, digestive enzymes and the beneficial probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus.^†

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