The Aronia Berry is Rich in Antioxidants

The aronia berry, also known as the chokeberry, is a berry that is high in antioxidants and has been very popular in Eastern Europe, particularly among people with heart disease. It’s most popular form to be taken is in a juice and aronia juice is quite common in Eastern Europe but is now making its way to health food stores and juice bars in America. The aronia berry is native to the Americas, but its popularity and reputation has only recently been noticed.

The aronia berry has the highest levels of antioxidants of any fruit. This has been confirmed by the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) test, a test developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure the levels of antioxidants in foods. When tested, the aronia berry was found to have the highest level of antioxidants. This is important because antioxidants play a key role if fighting off disease by countering the effects of free radicals. The reason why the aronia berry has such powerful antioxidant effects is it contains high levels of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, powerful antioxidants that help destroy free radicals and repair damaged tissue.

The juice of the aronia berry is almost black in color. This very dark berry has an extremely tart taste and many people like to sweeten it or mix it with other juices to blunt the taste a little bit. Some people describe the taste of the sweetened juice as a cross between blackberry and blueberry juice. Its tartness has been compared to cranberry juice.

The aronia berry has been shown in studies to improve diabetes, urinary tract health, cardiovascular disease and even the flu. This juice is looked upon as a medicinal health tonic as well as a beverage in Eastern Europe and Russia and many in the United States are discovering the benefits of the aronia berry. There are aronia berry juices available at organic food stores and health food stores and slowly but surely juice bars are catching up to this wonderful superfood which has so many healthy qualities.

If you like this article, visit: Berries For Health for more information about healthy benefits of berries