Healthy Foods For Your Body: Superfruit Acerola

This remarkable superfruit was foreign to me until a few years ago. Once I learned the powerful healing properties of this fruit I vowed to make it part of my daily diet and have never felt better.
It has many names including the Caribbean cherry, West Indian cherry, Barbados cherry, Surinam cherry, and the wild crape myrtle. It looks like a typical North American sweet cherry and is native to the northern areas of South America and the West Indies.
It's bright red in color and grows on large bushes or small trees.
One thing that makes this superfruit a must to enjoy is its incredibly high vitamin C content. One single Acerola berry contains a whopping 80 mg of Vitamin C, compare that to a whole orange which has 70 mg. Acerola is one of the world's richest sources of Vitamin C which has made it a rising star over the past few years. Vitamin C protects the body against oxidative stress.
Here's the 411 on this superfruit:
1. Loaded with Antioxidants. The Acerola is very good at neutralizing dangerous free radicals so that you can live healthier. Free radicals are responsible for premature aging and chronic illness and disease.
2. A great source of the Vitamin B family; Niacin, Riboflavin, and Thiamin.
3. It contains essential minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.
4. Acerola has lots of phytonutrients, including anthocyanins and flavonoids which are essential to the long-term maintenance of your body for optimal health and longevity.
I mentioned earlier the powerful healing properties of this amazing fruit. Many cultures use Acerola as medicine. It's used to treat and prevent many diseases. Acerola is used to prevent heart disease, cancer, hardening of the arteries, and blood clots.
Acerola is used to treat conditions including:
• Scurvy
• Common Cold
• Retinal Hemorrhages
• Depression
• Hay Fever
• Pressure Sores
• Collagen Disorders
• Tooth Decay
• Gum Infections
Acerola is one healthy food for your body that you should eat at least once a day.
Don't get seduced by supplements, because of the way most companies process the berry almost all of the very vital nutrients you seek are lost. As with any fruit, you get the most benefit from consuming the whole fruit.