Wedding Wellness Beauty Food: Camu Camu

So I'm about a month late catching up on Vogue's September 2014 issue. But you know what the best (slash worst) part is? There were lots of nutrition, health and food articles this issue. Which makes excellent reading if I do say so myself amidst an array of extreme shoes I actually am never going to wear. Beyond powdered greens for beauty food boosters which are nothing new, the nutrition article that really caught my eye was on the Amazonian Camu Camu berry. 

Now, you notice I mentioned the phrase 'worst part' in reference to these articles. Pretty much all the time when people read these, they assume that HOLY COW, FINALLY someone has found THE magic pill or powder or obscure berry that will fix ALL THE THINGS. News flash. It didn't happen with goji berries. It didn't happen with acai berries. And no matter what Dr. Oz says, it's not going to happen with camu camu berries. However. There are a few things worth noting in terms of beauty booster worthiness and because I keep seeing it starting to creep up, here's the scoop. 

• Camu camu is a powerful antioxidant and is packed with vitamin C. Over 100% of your daily vitamin C needs actually. Because vitamin C is water soluble, your body pees out what you don't need, so there's no major red flags for over massive over doses (note: be super careful about supplements which have poor regulation!!!). Vitamin C is important for boosting collagen production in your skin. Heck yes, I'm into that. 
• Camu camu is commonly used as an antiviral and anti-inflammatory in treating things like cold sores. Um, remember that post I wrote on how to avoid/get rid of cold sores with nutrition? Vitamin C was definitely on that list. Check.
• There is currently not enough scientific information to say 'it works' as a beauty food. Having evidence is important to me when it comes to recommendations. It's going to be a while before we see a study specifically looking at camu camu and skin health or even get accurate dosing. Bummer.

The bottom line: With a high vitamin C content camu camu might be a great 'power up' addition to add to smoothies or mix into oats. But be careful in terms of dosing and supplement quality. Below I rounded up a few of the current brands of camu camu products I've been seeing but I have no personal experience with any of them. I just want to show you what I'm seeing in the market at this time. If I come across a brand I love, I'll let you all know!