Berries That Prevent Disease

There has been much talk around town and on the Internet lately concerning the healthy food - berries. If you have been curious to find out more about how berries can keep you healthy, cure an ailment or prevent a disease, read on to learn some interesting and helpful berry facts.

The Raspberry

The melt-in-your-mouth can't get enough of that small red fruit feeling that you get as you stand in a field of raspberries may not be the only reason to eat them. Sure, they taste so good and have so many fantastic ways to enjoy them like by the handfuls or on top of vanilla ice cream; but have you explored the health properties of this small fruit?

The raspberry packs a powerful nutritional punch when you swallow them. One cup of this red, delicious fruit can supply you with 62% of your daily value (DV) of manganese. Manganese is a trace mineral and helps to prevent bone loss. Women age 35 and older need to be concerned with bone loss and should incorporate raspberries into their diet.

Raspberries are also valuable for their vitamin C nutrient value, as one cup will provide you with 51% of (DV).

As we age receiving enough fiber each day becomes a major concern, especially for post-menopausal or menopausal women who can experience constipation as their bodies go through the change. Raspberries provide 33% of the dietary fiber your body needs daily in just one cup.

Searching for a yummy way to receive antioxidant protection from damage at your cellular level that the free radicals in our environment? Raspberries have flavonoid phytonutrients (anthocyanins, kaempferol and quercetin), in that same one cup serving size that you should received all your vitamin and mineral benefit from and all for just 60 calories!

Do you want a colorful berry food delight that will please the eye, palette and your health requirement? Add blueberries to your raspberries and make plenty of delicious deserts, fruit cups for breakfast or top your salad!

Blueberries

Blueberries are another power fruit that can deliver lots of nutrients to your dinner table.

They are also packed with anthocyanidins, an antioxidant phytonutrient that can neutralize the damage caused by free radicals to your collagen within your cells and body tissues. This damage can lead to cancer, cataracts, hemorrhoids, glaucoma, and heart disease.

The pigments found in blueberries that give them that blue-red coloration can improve our support structures inside our bodies, such as our veins.

A recent study that was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry said that blueberries have 38% more free radical fighters than wine has. The article compared 4 oz of white wine that contains .47 mmol of free radical fighting antioxidants to red wine which has 2.04 mmol, to a wine made from highbush blueberries that had 2.42 mmol of this very important protective plant compound. This very powerful antioxidant has cardioprotective abilities. As we age, our risk increases for heart disease. Incorporating blueberries into our diet is something easy that we can do to help our bodies prevent heart disease. Blueberries are delicious all by themselves without any help from other foods, but why limit yourself to eating them one by one? They are terrific in pancakes, muffins or mixed in yogurt. Use them in baking or add color to your salad.