Scientists have developed a ‘super-smoothie’ that boosts overall health and helps reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, reports the Daily Mail.
The fruit cocktail is composed of grapes, apples, blueberries and strawberries and a few more exotic fruits. Superfoods in the smoothie include cowberry aka lingonberry, a tart fruit in the same family as cranberries, and acerola, a cherry-like fruit that has 30 times more vitamin C than orange juice, and chokeberry aka aronia, an American blackberry described as the healthiest in the world.
University of Strasbourg researchers analyzed 13 different blends of fruit, and found that some polyphenols were more potent than others. This winning blend of seven fruits was selected after tests by 80 volunteers.
The scientists initially conducted tests on pig arteries, which showed that heart artery walls relaxed when they were exposed to the fruit juice cocktail. The team said that for humans, this would mean a boost to the flow of blood to the heart, ensuring it received healthy balance of nutrients and oxygen.
The researchers also measured the antioxidant ability of different recipes to neutralize harmful molecules, and published their results in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Food and Function.