Supplement Facts

A Potent Immune System And Mood-Balancing Botanical Support

Camu-Camu (Myrciaria dubia) is the name of a bush which grows in the Amazonian rain forest of Peru. The Camu-Camu bush produces a fruit with the same name which contains powerful phytochemicals with health benefits, including the amino acids serine, valine, and leucine, and more Vitamin C than any other known plant in the world. The camu-camu fruit has a surprising range of therapeutic effects. Many people have stopped using large dosages of synthetic Vitamin C because they find that just 2-4 capsules daily of Royal Camu™ (each capsule contains 400 mg.) is energizing, mood-lifting and highly effective in strengthening the immune system.* Three caps (1 tsp.) twice daily will clear up most cases of bleeding gums and provide remarkable energizing effects. It has the additional benefit of being non-irritating to sensitive stomachs and bladders. 

The Camu-Camu fruit is about the size of a large grape and has a purplish red skin with a yellow pulp. Our Camu-Camu, Royal Camu™, which grows wild, is harvested directly into a freezer boat, which travels down the river ways of the Amazon where the fruit is picked at the height of its ripeness and flash-frozen. It is then taken to a processing plant where it is thawed, peeled, liquefied and spray dried. The resulting powder is a pale pink to yellow beige with very potent effects. Processing in this way enables Whole World Botanicals to guarantee a minimum of 8% Vitamin C, derived from the Camu-Camu fruit itself. Most other brands add synthetic Vitamin C to their Camu-Camu.

Although the number of milligrams of Vitamin C, which Camu-Camu contains, is low compared to the milligrams in synthetically derived Vitamin C tablets, the effects on the human body are incomparable. Because of its food form, with bioflavanoids and other phytochemicals, clinical evidence suggests that it is far more effective, milligram for milligram, than synthetic Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), even Ester C. Many people report that just two capsules daily (1/3 tsp.) is sufficient to significantly increase their wellness. Health care practitioners report the extraordinary nutritional benefits for supporting the body’s natural defense against viruses of a few capsules daily of Royal Camu™ which previously they had only achieved with mega doses of Ester C or mega doses of L-lyseine.*

Camu-Camu is very well known and prized in Japan but is almost unknown in the U.S. Nevertheless, the Peruvian government expects that it will become a major export when its amazing properties are discovered in the United States. It is preparing for the expected large increase in demand by making Camu-Camu seedlings available free of charge to communities of native people who are rain-forest dwellers for them to plant and to tend. It takes four to five years for the Camu-Camu bush to bear fruit. The growing popularity of this wild rainforest fruit is contributing to the sustainable development of the Amazon River basin and helping the forest dwellers to maintain their traditional way of life.

Some of the extraordinary medicinal properties of this Amazon rain forest fruit are described by Gary Null, Ph.D., a nationally known nutritionist and researcher, (1996). The camu-camu fruit has a surprising range of health-promoting effects. Camu-Camu helps to strengthen the immune system, maintain healthy gums, eyes and skin. Some extraordinary properties of this Amazon rainforest fruit are described by Gary Null, Ph.D., a nationally known nutritionist and researcher. In his Clinician’s Handbook of Natural Healing, (1998), Null lists disease conditions and the herbs that have been found effective for their health promoting properties in reference to specific organ/system weaknesses and problems. In discussing the holistic treatment of depression, he lists 19 plants containing chemical compounds with antidepressant properties, in order of potency. Camu-Camu is no. two on his list.* Anecdotally and in clinical experience, Null’s assessment of Camu-Camu has proven to be correct although the Camu-Camu fruit as such has hardly been studied at all, apart from clinical experience there is only indirect inferential evidence from scientific studies on the effect of Vitamin C. it appears to provide nutritional support for the brain to optimize its own mood balancing chemistry. Additionally, published research suggests that Vitamin C supports an increased serotonin level in the brain. Some health care practitioners have reported that Royal Camu™ works the same day to help relieve depression and anxiety, and they have weaned some of their patients off pharmaceutical anti-depressants. There are no side effects, such as photo-sensitivity or gastrointestinal problems, and it can be used safely in combination with pharmaceutical antidepressants.* There have been no reports of its interference with the effectiveness of any pharmaceutical drugs.

Chemical Analysis of Camu-Camu

In an analysis performed by an independent laboratory, the following amounts per 100 grams of chemical compounds were found in an analysis of 430 grams of dehydrated fruit pulp:

Amounts per 100 grams

Moisture 2.41 g.
Ash 1.01 g.
Fat 2.62 g.

Protein 1.55 g.
Fiber 0.76 g.

Total Carbohydrate 92.71 g.
Reducing Sugars 70.84 g.
Non-reducing Sugars 18.47 g.
Glucose 18.33 g.
Lactose 0.47 g.
Maltose 22.27 g.
Sucrose 18 .00 g.
Starch 58.01 g.

Potassium 9.71 g.
Calcium 4.27 mg.
Phosphorus 35.14 mg.
Iron 0.94 mg.

Vitamin C 7.49 g.
Vitamin B2 0.16 mg.
Vitamin B1 0.07 mg.
Niacin 8.25 mg.

References:

• Dr. James Duke’s Ethnobotanical database: www.ars-grin.gov/duke/
• Null, Gary. A Woman’s Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, Seven Stories Press, New York, N.Y., 1997.
• The Clinician’s Handbook of Natural Healing,. Kensington Press, New York, N.Y., 1998

© Viana Muller, Ph.D. 2001 - This article may not be reprinted without permission from the author.
Source: http://www.wholeworldbotanicals.com/herbal_camucamu.html

We use no additives, coloring, flavoring, or excipients. No pesticides, chemical fertilizers, irradiation or chemical gassing is used on our herbs. Our high standards extend to our relationship with native and maca growers and rainforest plant collectors and growers. We are fair traders who use part of the profits from sales of our maca products to improve the conditions of life of the growers/collectors through education, agricultural loans, and technical assistance in producing organic herbs with high crop yields.

Our maca is certified organic by two different organizations: BIO LATINA, which carries the USDA Seal of Approval for the new uniform U.S. Organic Code and SKAL, which has headquarters in The Netherlands, and is approved by the European Union and recognized throughout the world.

Our mission is to be a positive force for environmental protection of both the native habitats and the communities of native peoples extending from the rainforests to mountain communities situated at the highest altitudes on the earth. One of these extraordinary communities is featured in the painting to the right, depicting the Amazon rainforest. This artwork was done by Shipibo-Canaibo Indian teenager Roy Del Aguila, who lives on the edge of the rainforest in Peru.