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Health Benefits of Berries

Berries can easily be considered a delicious and exquisite gift from nature. Most amazingly, some of the most famous berries out there are naturally sweet and not much of an effort is required to be able to make a tasty, yummy treat out of them. All that you need to do is rinse them and then either serve them fresh or use them to make healthy dessert or snack.

What you must appreciate about berries is that they are an amazing source of phytochemicals and vitamins. For those of you who do not know what phytochemicals are, there are merely components of vegetables and fruits that are rather helpful in preventing a number of diseases and at times even help in treating certain disorders. For example:

• blueberries and cranberries consist of substances called proanthocyanidins (PACs) that not just prevent, but also treat bladder infections that are extremely painful;
• the extracts of strawberries and blueberries are high in ellagic acids, which are shown to have anti-cancer properties in laboratory studies;
• all dark colored berries, such as black raspberries consist of extremely powerful antioxidants that play a major role in slowing down the entire aging process and are also believed to help boost one’s health and fitness;
• raspberries and blueberries also consist of lutein, which is necessary for one to have healthy vision. 

What’s more is that berries are known to possess a number of vitamins and minerals that are necessary for one’s well-being. For example, a simple cup of strawberries is said to consist of more than 100 mg of Vitamin C for only 53 calories. This is nearly as much vitamin C that is contained in a cup of orange juice. As you must know, vitamin C is extremely important for us to have a healthy immune system as well as strong connective tissues that are responsible for keeping wrinkles away. Strawberries also consist of magnesium, folic acid and potassium. On the other hand, even though a cup of blueberries possesses a smaller quantity of vitamin C and minerals, it consists of lutein and other phytochemicals for merely 83 calories.  A cup of cranberries is nearly the same, but has only 44 calories. Additionally, a cup of raspberries is rich in potassium and vitamin C for 64 calories. There are multitudes of other berries out there that provide similar health benefits. These include currants, loganberries, lingonberries, gooseberries as well as bilberries.

In order to find the best berries around, it is advisable for you to look up berry farms that either pick them fresh on their own or allow you to pick them yourself. Bear in mind that you should look for farms that do not use chemical pesticides and go the natural way. If you are purchasing berries from a store, make sure that you look for berries that are colorful, ripe, have firm bodies without any signs of mushy or mold spots. You can wash these with tap water before serving them or soak them in salt water for 30 minutes.

Berries are also available in the frozen section of just about every grocery store out there. However, it is necessary for you to remember that they will not be as firm as freshly picked berries once they thaw, but will surely contain all the nutritional benefits of fresh berries, so it is still good to consume them.

Berries are best served whole without adding anything to them. But, just for that bit of extra flair, you may want to serve a mixture of some of your very favorite berries with a little bit of nuts and whipped cream. You can also sprinkle a bowl of berries with a little bit of granola and then add a splash of half and half or an alternative like rice or soy milk. With the exception of lingonberries, gooseberries and cranberries, berries do not need any sort of sweetening.

Even though lingonberries, gooseberries and cranberries are tasty, they are somewhat tart.  Cranberry juice is largely mixed with other juices or sugar is added in order to sweeten it up a bit. It is best for you to avoid cobblers, pies and other deserts and stick with fresh berries in order to make the most out of their health benefits. The reason why this is advised is that even if they taste wonderful, the addition of excessive sugar and calories largely overshadows the true health benefits of berries.

The best part about berries is that you can combine them with other healthy foods, like bread, whole grain muffins etc. All you need to do is add them as baking ingredients.

If you cannot consume enough fresh berries or find it too troublesome to cook food from berries, there are some supplements that can give you the benefits of green foods and berries in a bottle.