If we looked after our health as much and as efficiently as we treat illnesses, there would be as little illness as there is now health.

In the early 1970s a young keen researcher by the name of Pekka Puska went to North Karelia. He spoke and worked for healthy food and berries, for example, and against heart and vascular diseases. He must have come across old attitudes many times, but finally he managed to make a change come about. The eating habits that were bad for human health slowly changed, and instead of having diseases people became healthier. Thanks to the North Karelian project, healthier eating habits have little by little, but too slowly, started to spread to other parts of Finland.

Professor Pekka Puska , the current Director General of the National Public Health Institute, is also spreading this information on good and healthy nutrition elsewhere in the world. That is good.

In Asia, people have traditionally had good and healthy eating habits. There has been a sad change, western eating habits have gained ground and simultaneously the occurrences of the so called western diseases have increased. The consumption of vegetables and fruit has decreased considerably. Fast foods are replacing the traditional food, the vegetables and the fruit.

We eat far too much white flour, sugar, hard fats, salt, convenience foods, fast foods etc. We don’t eat anywhere near enough vegetables and berries. The more processed the convenience food is, the lower the amount of important and protective agents for the body will be in the food. There is a saying: “You are what you eat”.

It is often wondered why there isn‘t more nutritional training included in a doctor's education. Nowadays it is restricted to a few hours in six years. Our health depends on the right nutrition, or we could say it in another way, our illness is caused by the wrong nutrition. If the stomach and intestines are unwell, the whole body suffers. We suffer both psychologically and physically.

The right nutrition at the right time, in conjunction with suitable exercise, makes us feel good and gives us the health and several more years of life that we wish for.

The origin of many illnesses is connected with the oxidation of cellular compounds.

Now the “super agents" of the berries come into the picture; flavonoids and fatty acids, such as different omega and folic acids. They bind harmful compounds that are formed in the body, renew and repair cells. They are necessary for the body.

The Finnish berries, both wild and garden varieties, are nature’s real health package but unfortunately they are being used far too little. The information on the valuable agents they contain and their effect on health have not become widely known. We think that our Finnish berries can be replaced by foreign fruit that is easy to buy from the shop.

Finnish berries contain considerably more vitamins, trace minerals, minerals and different fatty acids than imported fruit. The concentration of active agents depends above all on the area where they grow; the further north the berries grow, the higher the concentrations of active agents will be. Wild berries always have higher concentrations than the corresponding cultivated berries.

The berries have many phenolic compounds, that is to say flavonoids and phenolic acids. They act as antioxidants, which means that they protect the body from the harmful effects of oxidation. According to research, they may prevent heart and vascular diseases, cancers, allergies and infections. There are different concentrations of active agents in different berries. This is why the effects of different berries on the human body vary. The active agents in berries are in an easily absorbed form.

Berries are not harmful to the sensitive probiotic bacteria of the stomach and intestines, but they are harmful and even damaging to alien and aggressive bacteria.

The active agents, vitamins, flavonoids, antioxidants and different fatty acids in berries are most important to our vital functions and our wellbeing. Berries, as research has shown, are a good source of health. The agents they contain are important building blocks for the cells, they renew and repair cells. They help us to carry on and they also help our brain functions. The better the vitamin and trace mineral balance is, the healthier we feel and the better we think, the brain is working well. It is absolutely necessary for the brains to have a continual supply of fatty acids in order to function well and efficiently. The brain is 60% fatty acids. We get fatty acids necessary for the brain from fish and we also get a lot from berries.

Most of the active agents in the berries are found in the seeds, about 50 %, in the peel about 20 %, and the rest, about 30 %, in the fruit pulp and the juice.

Berries can also be very well used in powder form, when our body can utilize also the fatty acids and active agents contained in the seeds more efficiently. Research has shown that when berries are dried, the active agents are concentrated which means that dried berries contain more active agents than do fresh.

Whole berries are dried at a low temperature, ground very finely and packaged in heat-sealed metallized plastic bags which protect them from light and air. This way we get the best possible end product. The active agents, the colour and the aromas are preserved and can work efficiently for the benefit of the body.

Berry powders are not medicine, they are not used to treat illnesses, they are used to look after and maintain your health, your own wellbeing. Berry powders help the body to cope better with different setbacks. When the body is in good condition and in balance, we have more energy. Berry powders are a good way of looking after our own health and wellbeing daily; it will become a healthy morning ritual that keeps you going.