My Second Love: Royal Camu
By Viana Muller, Ph.D.
A serious health challenge led to my co-founding Whole World Botanicals. Before that, I had little understanding of the importance of Vitamin C in the functioning of the human body. I had taken synthetic ascorbic acid when I had a sore throat but never felt any dramatic change after taking the tablets.
I was traveling in the jungle area of Peru with Elena Rojas Martinez, our WWB co-founder, when I first learned about the existence of Camu Camu fruit. It grows wild along the riverbanks in the Amazon basin in Peru and Brazil and is known to be very high in Vitamin C. Learning this, I was mildly interested but not overly excited. Who needs another Vitamin C, I thought. (How ignorant I was.)
Elena had a cousin who held an important position in a Peruvian company that was involved in the early research of the benefits of the Camu Camu fruit and worked for years on commercializing it. As a result, it was literally placed in my lap. I returned from Peru to New York with Camu Camu powder in hand and waited for my next sore throat – I had them frequently – to try it out. Frankly, I had little expectation that anything significant or exciting would happen when I tried it.
It’s hard to convey how amazed I was when that inevitable sore throat came. I took a teaspoon of the powder and dumped it into a small glass of water. It didn’t mix very well. So, I drank the water with the lumpy Camu Camu powder in it. The little beads of Camu Camu pulp felt soothing on my burning throat. Good start. Within about 10 minutes after swallowing the Camu Camu, the sore throat was gone. I couldn’t believe it!
This was my first experience of a supplement that has since become an almost daily necessity for me. I am immune-compromised, and the Camu Camu is the main way I maintain my daily health. I soon found out how quickly effectively relieve swollen neck glands and headaches. And then, I learned how it could quickly resolve general malaise. (Like when you wake up in the morning so tired you can barely move your body, along with a generally down feeling.) If one teaspoon didn’t do the whole trick – which it frequently did – a second teaspoon an hour later usually did.
Whole World Botanicals co-founder in Peru
At this point, I have to say that Royal Maca was my first love. It changed my life in five days when I was in the throes of menopause. But once I was safely on the other side of that quality-of-life crisis, Camu Camu, specifically Royal Camu, became my second lifelong love. I keep it by my bedside for daily use and wouldn’t dream of traveling without it.
Since then, much of what I know about the extraordinary qualities of Camu Camu has come from naturopathic doctors who are our customers and from our other customers, who are so generous in sharing their successes with our products. My next big revelation about this extraordinary product was the evidence that it worked as a natural antidepressant and mood booster. The doctors told me this first. “Two capsules twice a day away from food,” they recommended. It was hard to believe. Was this a placebo effect? Who ever heard of taking ascorbic acid to relieve a low mood? But the reports kept coming in. It took me years to understand its mechanism of action – how there was, in fact, a scientific basis for how it was working to lift mood. (But that’s another story for another blog!) The most important thing to know is that many people who suffer from anxiety and intermittent low mood – but have never been diagnosed as clinically depressed and have never been to a psychiatrist – have had their lives changed by taking Royal Camu twice a day.
Camu-Camu berries
Why do I say Royal Camu and not just Camu Camu? Well, yes, we are promoting our brand; that is obvious. But beyond that, the quality of the Camu Camu products on the market is so variable. Just because a label says Camu Camu, there’s no guarantee of great results. Many other brands contain mostly Camu Camu seeds, which have some antioxidant properties but almost no vitamin C. Our Dark Royal Camu contains no seeds, only pulp and skin. And with our Royal Camu Light, the only added ingredient is organic maltodextrin to stabilize the vitamin C.
There are several reasons why the level of natural vitamin C in many brands of Camu Camu is low. The fruit is often picked too early when it is green or picked too late when it’s overly ripe, and the skin has turned purple. In some cases, the natural Vitamin C in the Camu Camu is greatly reduced because the picked fruit has traveled several days in a hot boat before it is processed. As a result, many brands of Camu Camu add synthetic vitamin C.
Some brands are honest and admit this—others do not. Most Camu Camu brands claim they are “high in vitamin C” without telling you whether the vitamin C is synthetic ascorbic acid or naturally derived from the fruit. Needless to say, if ascorbic acid has been added to make up for the low amount of natural Vitamin C in their Camu Camu, its benefit is greatly reduced.
Camu-Camu berries
Furthermore, the labels on many Camu Camu brands provide no information on their specific amount of natural vitamin C. In contrast, Royal Camu states right on the label that it contains 8.5% to 10% natural vitamin C at the time of manufacture.
What I am saying is that all Camu Camu is not created equal. Don’t be surprised if you are disappointed after purchasing one of those other brands. Royal Camu will never disappoint! The quality is guaranteed. It’s no surprise that so many people find it indispensable for their health!
To celebrate the many wonderful benefits of Camu, I’d like to make all our Royal Camu products available to you at 30% off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, from June 4th through June 10th!
Whether you love the powder or capsules, light or dark, our Royal Camu is the purest, most potent and most effective Camu available!
