The healing power of Inca berries or Cape gold berries

Inca berries pack themselves in a paper-like, environmentally friendly and biodegradable bag. The berries are beautiful to look at and are used in some restaurants as a decorative element in desserts. The incabes not only has ornamental value; it is also healthy. But is it now so much healthier than originally Dutch food? That remains to be seen.

Origin

The subtropical Inca bees originate from the Andes. For some time it was widely cultivated as a garden and house plant, simply because the lantern-like bulbs are beautiful to look at. Most people did not even eat them, so the berries were noticed and eaten by birds. The berry has subsequently gone wild in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Inca berries are berries from the nightshade family, just like tomatoes, tobacco and potatoes. They are not healthy for everyone. People with leaky gut syndrome can develop all kinds of side conditions if they consume an excess of nightshade fruit. That is why the title superfood is somewhat exaggerated. In principle, there is enough healthy food in our immediate environment and there is no reason to let healthy fruits fly in from afar. Apples, pears, cherries, blackberries, raspberries and rose hips are just a small selection of water that you could call Dutch superfood. Superfood is a marketing term that mainly refers to exotic products, but in principle any fresh, biodynamic food in the form of vegetables or fruit is super healthy. Wild vegetables and herbs also belong to the category of Dutch superfood when it comes to nutrient content.

It is one of the few fruits that wraps itself in papery dried flower petals. The packaging is already very nice, but does not say anything about the strong content. Inca berries are a rich source of alkaloid, withanolides, flavonoids, pectin, phosphorus, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and proteins. Golden berry is one of the few vegetable sources of vitamin B12. In addition, there are sea vegetables such as seaweed, bee pollen, eggs and raw milk from which the vegetarian can get his B12.

The Latin name of incabes is Physalis peruviana. Physalis comes from phusalis which means bladder. The plant is named after the shape of the packaging of the fruit. In Germany the fruit is called blasenkirschen, which can be freely translated to bladder cherries. In Dutch it is also called pineapple cherry, golden berry, Cape gooseberry or Cape golden berry. In English, Inca berries are also called golden berries or gooseberries. Gooseberry also means gooseberry, and that name can be confusing; the gooseberry is not the same as the incabes.

Inca berries are anti-inflammatory and anti-viral. It contains a high content of antioxidants; substances that strengthen the immune system, making the body more resistant to free radicals. A 2005 Taiwanese study found, among other things, a strong antioxidant from tocopherol, a form of vitamin E.

The Indian Muthuvan people from Kerala and Tamils use the Cape golden berry as a traditional medicine for gout. India's Rajiv Ghandi Center for Biotechnology researched the Cape gooseberry for its medicinal effects on the liver. It turned out that this fruit makes the liver recover quickly from all kinds of toxins. This allows the liver to work better, especially in combination with a protective effect for the kidneys, these scientific findings confirm that the Cape Golden Berry is good for gout. Gout is caused by the build-up of waste products due to impaired kidney and liver function.

The Cape gooseberry has long been used in traditional medicine for cancers, including leukemia. Another form of cancer that is difficult to treat is lung cancer. Research has been conducted at Chian-nan University in Taiwan into the anti-cancer properties of goldberry and it has been found to disrupt the life cycle of a cancer cell and even trigger apoptosis or the sudden death of a cancer cell. The researchers think that goldberry is a good means of preventing cancer. Peruvian scientific research also saw a cancer-fighting effect. A cytotoxic T cell is a cell that can trigger the death of a cancer cell. It appears that the Cape gooseberry or Inca berry increases the cytotoxic activity. However, the Peruvian researchers did not use the berries but the leaves and stems of the same plant.

Egyptian research in 2013 showed that the Inca berry has a protective effect on the kidneys and liver. Among other things, it counteracts fibrosis, the unbridled production of cells. The researchers compared the effect with silymarin, a component that is isolated from herbs and protects the liver.

Pterygium is an intergrowth of the conjunctiva in the eye. At a certain point it can grow over the eye, which in Western medicine is reason for surgery. Researchers from Colombian Ciudad University in Bogata, Columbia investigated a topical cure for pterygium with incabes. Juice from the incabes was found to heal pterygium just as well. The juice may be slightly less anti-inflammatory than the synthetic drug methylprednisolone, but it can regulate the proliferation of fibroblasts, a cell found in connective tissue, the researchers conclude.

Finally, it is important to note that only fresh Inca juice is eligible for medicinal use. Like other fruits, the Inca berry can be freeze-dried to end up in the store as a carton of juice. Turkish research by a toxicological institute shows that freeze-drying is dangerous for the heart. When a man drinks too much Inca juice of freeze-dried origin, it is toxic to the heart.