The fantastic sea buckthorn plant is a plant that you should know about.
It has a versatile and unique combination of nutrients found in its berries, leaves and seeds. The latin name of sea buckthorn originates from the ancient Greek words hippo = "horse" and phaos = "to shine" because of the striking coats of the horses which fed on in pastures full of this plant.
This plant was once labelled as the Holy Fruit of the Himalayas and was used as a remarkable skin regenerator treatment for many victims of the disastrous Chernobyl nuclear explosion.
It is one of those plants which require a male and a female plant to produce fruit.
The nutritional content of the berries and seeds is quite unique in its fatty acid, vitamin, mineral and antioxidant composition. Most varieties of this plant contain over 12-14x the vitamin C content of oranges per 100g. The plants value is well documented in laboratories around the world in the quest to further understand its incredible therapeutic and health related benefits .
Skin health is one of the very important gifts of this plant offers us, either through consuming the berries or by using the plant extract topically. It has a unique ability to nourish and hydrate all types of skin and improve cellular integrity. It's fatty acid composition reduces sub epidermal (skin) inflammation , deeply improves the skin hydration, reduces the production of melatonin and therefore lowering hyper pigmentation and also provides protection to some degree against the UV rays of the sun. Some of the key compounds in the berry and seed include Vitamin A (retinol), Vitamin E, Linoleic acid and Alpha-linoleic acid.
It is literally, food for the skin.
Not only does this plant benefit our skin but it is also reported in several very interesting studies to benefit the functioning of the liver, in certain cancer treatments as well as having a positive impact on cholesterol levels and cardiovascular health and improves the balance of microflora in the gastrointestinal tract, gut and colon.
A super-food? Indeed! And definitely one that you should include in your life.