This week we are exhibiting at Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore, MD. If you are attending the show, please visit us in booth 3950. Here is the website for the show: http://www.expoeast.com/

Blackcurrants are found in two FullyLoadedTea blends - the Bulletproof Currant Fruit Tea has blackcurrants and Sweet Addiction Fruit Tea has blackcurrant leaves.

Why are blackcurrants so special that we’ve decided to include them in our blends? Thanks to the high levels of anthocyanins and Vitamin C, two types of important disease fighting antioxidants, blackcurrants have been suggested by scientific research to have many health benefits in promoting health and preventing diseases. Blackcurrant seed oil is a rich source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a very rare essential fatty acid.

Blackcurrant leaves have been traditionally used in Russia as a fragrant alternative to tea. Syrup made from blackcurrant juice is often used to treat sore throats. Blackcurrants are widely used in Europe in everything from jams, candies, syrups, juices, etc. Blackcurrants became popular in the U.K. during the World War II, because other foods rich in Vitamin C, such as oranges, were nearly impossible to find. The reason blackcurrants aren’t used widely in the United States is because blackcurrant farming was banned in the early 1900’s. The ban has since been lifted and blackcurrants are making a comeback in the U.S.