Sea Buckthorn Powder & Why We Don't Use It
When something seems too good to be true, watch out, it usually is.
This can be said for a variety of things in life but is especially true in the world of food and nutritional supplements. It seems that almost daily we hear about food fraud and poor quality or contaminated ingredients in our food chain.
Some products are more ‘pure’ than others and some are simply gimmicks. It’s time to set the record straight about sea buckthorn powder and oil products.
The health benefits of sea buckthorn have been known for thousands of years. The fruit, leaves and stems contain a number of healthy compounds, not limited to flavonoids, antioxidants, minerals and several omega fatty acids. Its’ boom in popularity as a health supplement has been followed by a similar boom in different types of products: pet supplements, cosmetics, fruit juice, powders, purees and oils.
It seems that there is a lot of conflicting information on the internet about using sea buckthorn powder vs. oil, so let’s take a look:
Sea Buckthorn Oil:
The majority of the oil found in the sea buckthorn plant is in fact in the berries, or fruit. It can be extracted by a variety of different ways, one of the best being CO2 supercritical extraction. This is a low-temperature process that works similarly to an oversized espresso machine.
The raw, pureed sea buckthorn berry fruit and/or seed is put into the machine and the oil fraction is extracted under high pressure CO2. The benefit of any sea buckthorn oil, from either seed or pulp origin, is that this oil comes with a plethora of fat-soluble compounds. Omega-3, 6, 7 and 9, vitamin A, vitamin E, amino acids, and flavonoids are just a few of these beneficial compounds that ‘hitch a ride’ with the oil and into your product.
Sea Buckthorn Powder:
Sea buckthorn powder is made by dehydrating either sea buckthorn puree or juice. Sometimes the powder is made from the by-product of the oil-extracting process.
It can be difficult to find a sea buckthorn powder with a complete list of ingredients. Some ingredients in the powder may include added sugars such as maltodextrin. Sea buckthorn is naturally a bitter fruit and sweeteners are often added to the powder to improve palatability.
While the final product can be high in Vitamin C, the oil fraction is greatly diminished in these powders, leaving the omega fatty acid nutrients, specifically omega 7, non-existent; which is where some of the biggest health benefits truly reside.
One of your best options is whole berry sea buckthorn puree/juice, or a sea buckthorn oil supplement. Just be sure to select a pure oil and not a ‘purified’ oil – as there is a very BIG difference.
"Purified" is just a pretty way of saying heavily processed - click here to learn the truth about pure omega 7 vs. "purified" omega 7
Sea buckthorn oil has no additives or sweeteners and packs the best nutritional punch with high, concentrated amounts of omegas 3, 6, 9 and the elusive omega 7.
Whole Berry Sea Buckthorn Juice/Puree:
Another option is to try a whole liquid pulp form. Whole berry sea buckthorn puree/juice is the the most potent and complete form of sea buckthorn. The puree not only retains the important omegas, but it provides full body nutrition with 190+ bio-active compounds.
This is a key difference between sea buckthorn pulp and its oils. The oil contains the fat-soluble nutrients (mainly the omegas) while the pulp contains the fat-soluble AND water-soluble nutrients, giving you the whole body, whole food benefits of sea buckthorn.
CONSUMERS BE CAUTIOUS: Any claims stating that sea buckthorn oil or powder houses the full range of 190 nutrients is false. This can only be found when the entire sea buckthorn berry is incorporated. Be wary of this misleading marketing tactic.
To sum it all up, if you're looking for omega 7, stay far away from sea buckthorn powders as they completely deplete all of the omega nutrients to nearly non-existent levels.
For the most potent, pure and readily absorable sea buckthorn and omega 7 benefits, go with whole berry sea buckthorn, SIBU Omega 7 Pure (it's the only one it's kind in the world!)