The aronia berry benefits

Aronia berries are ideal for refining yoghurt, muesli or quark, for baking or simply for a healthy snack between meals. Advertising claims referring to the prevention, healing or alleviation of diseases are prohibited for all foods and thus also for Aroniaberry-containing food supplements. In fact, aronia berries are rich in anthocyanins and polyphenols, which are associated with a number of health-promoting properties.

The consumption of small quantities of fresh or dried processed aronia berries, juice and jam is not harmful to health and can contribute to a balanced and healthy diet. As the State Office for Statistics of Lower Saxony announced in a report, the area under cultivation for aronia berries continues to increase. The fruit is in such demand that the yield in Lower Saxony has even quadrupled from 2015 to 2018. The tart and acidic fruits are not only supposed to strengthen the immune system, but also provide a radiant skin. The particularly high content of secondary plant substances, i.e. flavonoids and phenolic acids, is said to be responsible for this.

In order for the aronia plant to develop optimally and produce a rich harvest, it is important to ensure an optimal location during cultivation. In a study with mice, however, it was shown that taking aronia berry juice can prevent weight gain. The question: may aronia be taken together with Marcumar can be answered in the affirmative, because both differ in their effects yes, complement each other, because aronia primarily attacks the blood vessels, but does not interfere with the coagulation system of the liver, at best it helps to alleviate the side effects.

What was once a small berry used purely for colouring purposes has become a valued foodstuff in the form of aronia juice, dried fruit, powder and food supplements made from aronia berries, jams, fruit bars and other luxury products. If you want to use aronia berries as an ingredient in cakes, as a healthy alternative in muesli or as a delicious juice, you may ask yourself what you need to look out for when buying to get a good product. I like to put 1 teaspoon of aronia berries in a cup together with a tea bag: once the tea is drunk, the softened berries can be spooned.

The text is in no way a substitute for the expert advice of a doctor or pharmacist and it must not be used as a basis for independent diagnosis and the beginning, modification or termination of a treatment of diseases. Above all, the berry has polyphenols, which are not only good for the immune system, but also have a regulating effect on blood pressure and blood sugar levels. A few years ago, Agnes and Rupert were looking for a new challenge and they started to cultivate the aronia, which originated in North America. These berries are planted as cuttings and require very intensive care in the first few years.

Aronia berries can be enjoyed in many preparations because the secondary plant substances they contain - unlike many vitamins - are not broken down even during processing. It is certainly worth mentioning that aronia berries contain comparatively little fructose and instead have a high natural content of sorbitol, a sugar substitute that is metabolised independently of insulin. A further advantage for nature lovers: the lush flowering umbels in spring are much sought-after bee pasture; in August the ripening fruits attract many birds. With its rich flowering in May and red foliage in autumn, aronia is an attractive hedge plant that hardly needs to be cut.

What to know about aronia berries

Taking aronia berry in capsules has the advantage of easy and always the same dosage, in order to achieve a long-term health effect by taking them. As the fresh aronia berries are only available at a few markets, it is easier for customers to buy the juice online or in stores. In fact, aronia berries are rich in flavonoids and phenolic acids, which are associated with a number of health-promoting properties.

The dried aronia berry are not only suitable for consumption in between meals and as an ingredient in breakfast cereals, but also as an addition to cakes or many desserts, as well as for unusual sauces, chutneys, dressings and many savoury dishes. In spite of the fact that they have been selected and washed several times before the drying process and subjected to the strictest controls at each stage of processing, it cannot be 100% excluded that isolated parts of plants, such as small leaves or stems in berries, individual peel remains in cracked apricot kernels or, in the case of natural drying, a grain of sand may be found in the end product. In May the gracefully flat umbels with their small white flowers attract colourful moths and insects. Birds nest in the dense foliage, which becomes a bright red eye-catcher in autumn, and help themselves to the berries left over after the harvest.

With aronia juice, it is also important to ensure that it is a 100% direct juice and not a concentrate that has been "enriched" with water or other additives. It is therefore not surprising that the indigenous peoples of North America already knew how to take advantage of the health benefits of eating aronia berries. The press cake, the "marc", is also a valuable product of the aronia berry: it contains the active ingredients of the blue "health berry" in a highly concentrated form and can be used as granules (for example for teas, as a baking ingredient, etc.) or ground into a fine powder.

A aronia berry healing effect can have a positive influence on the blood count, because taking aronia berry powder stimulates the metabolism, contains a lot of iron and improves the absorption of vitamins and minerals from other foods. Due to its high flavonoid, folic acid, pro-vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin K and vitamin C content 13, aronia berry is one of the healing plants in Poland and Russia. In vitro it has been proven that fruit extract of aronia melanocarpa significantly reduces oxidative stress caused by surgery or in various stages of chemotherapy in patients with invasive breast cancer thanks to its antioxidant effect. "We try to compensate for our health sins in everyday life with such supposed superfruits", says Jörg Heilmann, Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Regensburg, "but it doesn't work like that, they are not drugs". In his opinion, aronia berry can at least not harm, "if you take it in moderation".