Drink flavours
Me and my partner picked three flavours each and did some research into each. The flavours we picked were Goji berry, Matcha tea, Blueberry, Ginger, Dragon Fruit and Coconut.
I looked into Goji berries, Matcha tea and Blueberries.
Goji Berries
'Goji berries: Health benefits and side effects
Many health claims have been made for goji berries, including maintaining a healthy heart and circulation, boosting the immune system, protecting against cancer and increasing longevity, yet the medical evidence to back up these claims is weak, according to theBritish Dietetic Association.
What is the goji berry?
The goji berry, also known as the wolfberry, is a member of the Solanaceae or nightshade family of plants. It’s a bright orange-red berry commonly grown in the north-central and western areas of China. The ripe berry is easily damaged during picking, so it’s common for them to be carefully dried to preserve them before export. In the UK they are commonly eaten as the dried fruit or as a componant of fruit juice.
Goji berries have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to manage diabetes,high blood pressure, fever, age-related eye problems and fatigue associated with living at high altitudes. Goji berries are eaten raw, cooked, or dried (like raisins) and are used in herbal teas, juices, wines and medicines. The benefits of goji berries on human health are limited at the moment, although purified extracts from these berries seem to show some health benefits in animal research and a limited number of human studies.
Goji berries have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to manage diabetes,high blood pressure, fever, age-related eye problems and fatigue associated with living at high altitudes. Goji berries are eaten raw, cooked, or dried (like raisins) and are used in herbal teas, juices, wines and medicines. The benefits of goji berries on human health are limited at the moment, although purified extracts from these berries seem to show some health benefits in animal research and a limited number of human studies.
What are the benefits of goji berries?
The blue-red colours found in goji berries, blueberries, acai berries, cranberries, strawberries, and cherries are natural anti-oxidants which may help protect the body against oxidative damage. In addition Goji berries contain complex starches called Lycium barbarum polysaccharides which may benefit the immune function, and may reduce fatigue associated with living at high altitude.
Antioxidants temper the destructive power of free radicals, substances occuring naturally in our body but if produced in excess accelerate cell damage and destruction. Chinese research has shown a standardised dose of goji berry extract given over a month-long trial helped boost levels of protective anti-oxidant liver enzymes, and reduced by-products of oxidative damage in the blood by almost 10%. It’s worth noting that although this research is promising, the test samples of goji berries were highly purified to contain a standard amount of the active ingredient, ‘Lycium barbarum polysaccharides’, which may not reflect the same content of goji berries bought at the healthfood shop or supermarket.
Goji berries also have compounds rich in vitamin A that may also confer health benefits. Vitamin A and its derivatives may protect against skin damage, help maintain night- vision, and benefit the immune system.
Some researchers suggest that goji berry extracts may improve mood, and protect against age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's, but there is no robust medical evidence to support these claims.
In summary, goji berries are a rich source of antioxidants with preliminary research showing some potential health benefits when taken in a standardised form - but there’s not enough sound evidence to recommend them solely for their health benefits.
Do goji berries have any dangerous side effects?
There are herb-drug interactions with goji berries. If you take warfarin (a blood thinner) you should avoid goji berries. Goji berries may also interact with diabetes and blood pressure medicines, so check with your pharmacist about possible interactions.
If you have pollen allergies you may want to stay away from this fruit. Case reports have linked goji berries consumption with skin photosensitivity, causing a skin rash on exposure to sunlight. They are also naturally rich in oxalate which may be a health issue in kidney problems.'
If you have pollen allergies you may want to stay away from this fruit. Case reports have linked goji berries consumption with skin photosensitivity, causing a skin rash on exposure to sunlight. They are also naturally rich in oxalate which may be a health issue in kidney problems.'
Matcha Tea
'what is matcha green tea?
Matcha is 100% natural, organic green tea leaves which have been carefully ground down to form a fine powder.
It has been drunk in Japan as part of the tea ceremony for almost 900 years, and is used by Buddhist monks to keep them alert, awake and focused during long days of meditation.
Until recently, virtually all matcha has been consumed within Japan, where it's particularly popular among students who are cramming for exams. But it’s now gaining popularity in the UK, too, and it can be found in cafes, health food shops and smoothie bars.
We like to think of matcha as a sort of superhero amongst teas, as it’s super-concentrated and packed full of the goodness we need to help keep us looking and feeling happy and healthy.
The tea leaves are grown under cover for the last two weeks of cultivation to produce lots of chlorophyll (the bright green good stuff).
They are then dried and slowly ground between two granite rocks to a very fine powder. This is then packed immediately in a vacuum sealed tin, to lock in all the nutrients.'
Blueberry
'Blueberries are perennial flowering plants with indigo-colored berries from the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium (a genus that also includes cranberries and bilberries). Species in the section Cyanococcus are the most common fruits sold as "blueberries" and are native to North America (commercially cultivated highbush blueberries were not introduced into Europe until the 1930s).
Blueberries are usually erect. Prostrate shrubs can vary in size from 10 centimeters (3.9 in) to 4 meters (13 ft) in height. In the commercial production of blueberries, the smaller species are known as "low-bush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), while the larger species are known as "high-bush blueberries".
The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and 1–8 cm (0.39–3.15 in) long and 0.5–3.5 cm (0.20–1.38 in) broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish. The fruit is a berry 5–16 millimeters (0.20–0.63 in) in diameter with a flared crown at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally dark purple when ripe. They are covered in a protective coating of powdery epicuticular wax, colloquially knows as the "bloom". They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberry bushes typically bear fruit in the middle of the growing season: fruiting times are affected by local conditions such as altitude and latitude, so the height of the crop can vary from May to August depending upon these conditions.'
We both made three design boards which highlighted the fruits we had chosen and helped us get a feel for what colours they were and how they were used etc.
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