A friend tells me he is getting ready to sign on as an eXfuze drink distributor. In his explanation of the company, he named a few fruits I had never heard of. Not wanting to get left in the dust (yet again) about some new trend, I decided to do “light” research on some of the supposedly salutary effects of the fruit drinks this company is pushing. Here’s what I found on the “7+” group of fruits they market:
- Fucoidan – From brown seaweed. eXfuze’s site compares it nutritional value as equal to breast milk. Many reports indicate it is healthful.
- Mangosteen – The point of interest here is a group of organic compounds called Xanthones, found in the hard shell of the fruit. On the one hand, these compounds can be used for insecticides, on the other hand lots of people say they have healthful effects.
- Sea buckthorn – Apparently very high concentration of Vitamin C (much higher than, say, and orange.) Lots of other supposed good acids.
- Noni – a potato sized fruit, lots of vitamin C and fiber. Several medical reports indicate it is high in potassium, a problem for people with kidney problems; also, it may contain levels of toxicity dangerous to some parts of the body.
- Goji – A cute berry loaded with tons of amino acids and vitamins. Reports indicate many of its claims, such as preventing cancer, have been been debunked.
- Acai – Extremely high in dietary fiber. Lots of antioxidants.
- Gac – More lypotene than tomatoes, more beta-carotine than carrots.
In all, none of these fruits seem like they will do you harm – except to your pocketbook. It isn’t clear, however, that any of these items are any more salutary than any other fruit.
