Haskapa

Q: What are Haskap Berries? & why have you tried them?

A: Haskap Berries (or Lonicera caerulea) are a blue pigmented fruit containing polyphenol compounds, including cyanidin 3-glucoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, and peonidin 3-glucoside.^[14][15][16] Other phytochemicals present are proanthocyanidins and organic acids, including a high content of citric acid.^[17] The first study (mdpi.com) has shown that their constituent anthocyanins have a positive impact on human performance.

 

Anthocyanins: Fat Burners & Performance Enhancement

The Anthocyanins are found in the blue pigment of the Haskap berry. They are also found in similar quantities in other blue fruits, such as blackcurrants.

Fine.

The interesting bit is what these naturally occurring supplements can do to boost athletic performance.

In a nutshell, they have two stand-out features that have been widely studied, namely 1) they reduce DOMS and 2) They increase the %age fat burn when you are exercising. The first of those benefits is mainly for athletes that frequently train hard in that they just reduce the discomfort of painful muscles, also decreasing recovery time.

The fat-burning effect is good for both athletes and those on a diet. Simply put they help your body use a greater percentage of fat as an energy source. For endurance athletes, that’s a key property as there are only so many carbs you can absorb through your gut wall and for dieters, it’s pretty obvious that you want to burn more fat.

My Tests

aka adding to numerous bowlfuls of yoghurt

My working assumption was that the Haskapa powder the manufacturers sent me (for free and with no payment) had the same active ingredients as those in CurraNZ that I’ve used since 2015(!). It’s hard to quantify any comparative effect but I can say that it seemed to be no different to taking CurraNZ tablets over the same period.

CurraNZ comes in tablet form and popping a pill or two is very convenient. The powder format of Haskapa will appeal to anyone wanting to mix it with foodstuffs, something that’s impractical with CurraNZ. Haskapa is VERY nice-tasting. I was going to share the bag with my partner…but didn’t 😉

More On The Science

Well, as I said above, there is only one scientific paper (mdpi.com) on Haskap Berries but the CurraNZ equivalent is widely covered and the CurraNZ product is accredited for safe sports usage (Informed Sport).

Here is the science that backs CurraNZ and other links too.

You can buy the powder from Haskapa.com.

I get nothing from that link, I was just curious to try a freebie sample of a product that I already use but in a different format.