Blackcurrant, the Superfruit.

[real food]

It was reported today, that in tests carried out by the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the Blackcurrant was the ultimate "superfruit", compared to 20 other fruits tested, including the blueberry and the goji berry.
They say that the Blackcurrant has more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, than the 20 other fruits.
The anthocyanins in Blackcurrants, help to prevent many ailments.
You can find information on the cultivation of Blackcurrants, and their use in Jams and Jellies, Icecreams, and Puddings, in my new web site at www.growingyourown.info

[real food]

[aob9]

Excellent news about the Blackcurrant. Mine are beginning to ripen but need a little more time....very comprehensive website also.

[saddad]

They're wrong... it's the Jostaberry... huge crop of huge "black currants"
;D

[Si]

Well thank very much for sending me one a while back Saddad  ;)

[okra]

superfoods! surely a balanced diet is the best method of getting the bodies needs - eating junk and having a few superfoods is not good

[dtw]

Independent research??? I think not, they are working with Ribena.

http://www.scri.ac.uk/press/SuperBlackcurrants.htm

[emmy1978]

Always look at who commissioned the research!! A trap I have fallen into doing research for college.  :(

[raisedbedted]

Presumably as research costs money there will always need to be an interested (non independent) party involved?  Scientists who study such things for the fun of it are pretty rare on the ground I should think.

If the research is conducted by that company then its findings could be considered with a degree of cynicism.  If on the other hand an interested party has commissioned independent research from a bona fide research organisation then you should be prepared to at least read.

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

just makes a change that this year's superfruit is something common, and not something unusual and surprise surprise expensive to buy

just because Ribena Inc comissions research doesn't make it invalid

[asbean]

superfoods! surely a balanced diet is the best method of getting the bodies needs - eating junk and having a few superfoods is not good

That is absolutely right. All these foodie fads and fashions take dietary requirements completely out of context.  These days it seems to be screaming headlines - something is either bad for you, therefore you mustn't eat it - or is is so good for you everything else must be excluded.  I think a lot of people only skim read, and absorb what they want to without thinking through the consequences.

[emmy1978]

I didn't mean i wouldn't read it just that i would always weigh the interested party into the balance, ie, consider things such as why was it commissioned - eg advertising, what publication did it appear in if any etc.
I think the whole 'superfood' thing is the natural progression from 'organic'. Another label for lots more money.
I often thought when i was weaning the girls that they seemed to crave one particular thing and eat loads of it, then go off it for a bit. This got me thinking about women who craved coal whilst pregnant and i sort of connected the two and thought maybe our bodies know what they need and draw us too it. So pregnant women needed the minerals present in coal, not the coal itself. These are just my musings btw, no research involved!

[Robert_Brenchley]

The women may well have needed minerals in the coal; eating soil is well known from many cultures, and it's believed that this lies at the root of it.

We wouldn't need 'superfoods' if our general diet was as nutritions as it would have been before the days of industrial cultivation!