The pigments that give berries their beautiful blue and red hues are also good for your health. Berries contain phytochemicals and flavonoids that may help to prevent some forms of cancer. Cranberries and blueberries contain a substance that may prevent bladder infections. Eating a diet rich in blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and strawberries may help to reduce your risk of several types of cancers. Blueberries and raspberries also contain lutein, which is important for healthy vision.
Acai berries
What are they? Very dark, grape-like berries from the acai palm which grows in the South American rainforests.
Why choose them? “Acai berries are a good source of antioxidants, fibre and heart-healthy fats,” says nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky, from America’s Mayo Clinic. She adds that weight-loss claims have not been proven.
How can you eat them? Dried, juice and pulp.
British berries
What are they? Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and blueberries.
Why choose them? Strawberries are high in vitamin C – just seven will give you the recommended daily allowance. Blackberries are a good source of vitamin E and raspberries provide vitamin C and folate. Some studies suggest that the high antioxidant levels in blueberries help fight ageing and reduce “bad” cholesterol.
A Japanese study showed that eating more blackcurrants increased blood flow under the eyes, reducing dark circles.
How can you eat them? Fresh or cooked.
Cranberries
What are they? Deep red berry grown in the US and Canada.
Why choose them? Many studies show that cranberries can help fight cystitis. A recent review of research found that drinking cranberry juice or taking cranberry capsules can reduce the number of episodes of cystitis by a third.
Berries, a superfood
The fruit seems to work best in women who suffer frequent recurrences but it is not clear how much you need to take. According to Dr Amy B. Howell, research scientist at Rutgers University, New Jersey: “Research shows that cranberry juice keeps bacteria from sticking to the urinary tract wall. This effect works best when a certain level of cranberry juice is maintained in the system, so taking a serving of juice in the morning and one in the evening results in the best possible health benefits.”
How can you eat them? Dried, juice, capsules or cooked.
Elderberries
What are they? Clusters of small, dark fruit. Many different varieties grow all over the world.
Why choose them? Black elderberries are very high in anthocyanins. Research suggests that these may boost the production of cytokines, proteins which play a role in fighting infection. A number of studies have shown that black elderberry extract can improve flu symptoms and reduce the length of the illness by three to four days.
How to eat them? Cordials, preserves, extract.
Goji Berries
What are they? Orange-red berries grown in China and wild in parts of the UK.
Why choose them? Goji berries, also known as wolfberries, are high in vitamin C, beta-carotene and antioxidants. According to Dr Timothy Moynihan, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic: “Goji juice has been touted as a cure-all for conditions ranging from high blood pressure and cholesterol to gastrointestinal problems.
Although a few laboratory studies suggest that goji extracts might have some anti-cancer effects, there are no human trials to support the idea that goji juice can treat or prevent specific diseases — including cancer.” Goji juice may interact with some prescription drugs including Warfarin and some diabetes medications.
How can you eat them? Juice, dried.
Yang-Mei Berry or Yumberry
What are they? Cherry-shaped red fruit with a knobbly surface grown in China for over 5,000 years.
Why choose them? High in antioxidants and a source of vitamin C and some B vitamins. It has been used in Chinese medicine since 600AD as a cure for common complaints including headaches, stomach ailments and urinary infections.
How can you eat them? As juice.
Related post : http://lancastria.net/blog/?p=473
- Similar posts
- Eat your berries (34.4%)
- Chocolate as healthy as fruit (12.9%)
- Foods for Your Heart (12.7%)
- Vital Vitamins (11.3%)
- Fish and health (10.2%)
- Purple fruits fight disease (8.9%)
- Healthy juices (8.8%)
8 Responses to “Berry Benefits”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:02 am
Still superfood related :
A SUPERFRUIT with three times the vitamin C of an orange and twice as much calcium as milk is now available in the UK.
The baobab fruit has been revered in Africa for thousands of years for its health benefits.
Now, thanks to an EU ruling, the fruit pulp can be imported for the first time to the UK and British manufacturers are starting to produce products containing it.
The fruit of the baobab tree looks like a velvety coconut on the outside and its white, powdery pulp looks like sherbet and has a cheese-like texture.
It can be blended with anything and is highly nutritious and packed with antioxidants, iron and potassium.
The shell is extremely difficult to crack so it will not be available to buy as a whole fruit in Britain but will instead be used as an ingredient.
The fruit powder has a unique, tangy taste described as “caramel pear with subtle overtones of grapefruit”.
The baobab, or upside-down tree as it is also known, is cherished by African villagers who believe its spirit protects them. Only specially trained climbers are allowed up the tree to pick the fruit.
Gus Le Breton, chief executive of PhytoTrade Africa, the not-for-profit trade association which is the only approved baobab pulp supplier in Europe, said: “The availability of baobab is timely with attention on South Africa with the World Cup taking place. Consumers can now get hold of it directly for the first time and we expect food manufacturers to roll out their own baobab lines from smoothies to cereal bars and confectionery as they take advantage of the booming market in healthy foods.”
Products already available include baobab jam and lemonade. In addition, baobab fruit powder can be bought for use in home cooking. It is thought that other products containing baobab will become available later this year, including drinks, cereals, ice cream, yogurt and health supplements.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Cranberry juice may protect against cavities by preventing bacteria from clinging to teeth.
Drinking the juice is already known to help prevent and treat bladder problems, by stopping bacteria sticking to the bladder wall.
Now these anti-bacterial properties are being tested in dental care.
Our mouths are full of bacteria, which feed off the sugars in food. They then excrete acids that cause dental decay.
Laboratory studies have shown that cranberry juice acts like Teflon, preventing the bacteria sticking to teeth.
The American researchers also found compounds in the juice stopped bacteria building up and forming plaque, which is a cause of gum disease.
They are now planning to isolate the compounds that provide the protection. It’s hoped they could then be added to toothpaste or mouthwash directly.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries contain high levels of compounds called polyphenolics, which help the brain to carry out essential ‘housekeeping’ functions.
Eating fruits with deep orange, red or blue pigments can even reverse the loss of brain power, according to a two month study of laboratory rats fed a berry-rich diet.
Shibu Poulose, who presented his research at the American Chemical Society on Monday, said: “The good news is that natural compounds called polyphenolics found in fruits, vegetables and nuts have an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect that may protect against age-associated decline.”
Polyphenolics in berries help certain cells called microglia, which clean up toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other symptoms of mental decline.
September 2nd, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Organic strawberries may cost more, but it’s a price worth paying, scientists say.
The fruit is both tastier and better for your health, research shows.
The most detailed study of its kind has found that they contain higher levels of anti-cancer nutrients than fruit sprayed with chemical pesticides.
Naturally-produced strawberries also have a longer shelf life and a richer, more fruity flavour, according to the researchers.
Their findings add to a growing body of evidence that organic food is healthier than conventional fruit and vegetables.
Dr John Reganold, who led the study at Washington State University in the U.S., said: ‘We show that you can have high quality, healthy produce, without resorting to an arsenal of pesticides.’
Researchers analysed the taste, nutrition and quality of three strawberry varieties growing on 13 organic and 13 conventional farms in California, as well as 31 chemical and biological properties of the soil where they were grown.
The organic fruit had ‘ significantly higher’ levels of antioxidants – nutrients that mop up potentially dangerous and cancer-causing ‘free radicals’ in the body.
They also last longer and have ‘more strawberry in the strawberry’, Dr Reganold reports in the journal PLoS One, published by the Public Library of Science.
In blind taste tests, volunteers said they found organic strawberries sweeter and more flavoursome. And when they saw the fruit, they judged the strawberries from the organic farms to have a better colour.
September 4th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Drinking blackcurrant juice can help prevent aches and strains during exercise, a new study shows.
In tests, volunteers who took an extract of the “superfruit” in a pill form before and after exercise suffered less muscle damage and inflammation.
Researchers say compounds called flavonoids in the berries protect the body from the stresses of working out.
The experiment, led by Dr Roger Hurst at New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research, monitored the impact of blackcurrant extract on 10 untrained volunteers.
Those who took the blackcurrant pill before and after daily moderate exercise had fewer signs of “oxidative stress” and muscle damage. Their bodies also had fewer signs of inflammation.
Each pill contained the equivalent of one or two ounces of berries and was taken daily for three weeks before and after exercise.
‘In our research we chose a group of 10 healthy everyday people with a wide age range who exercised regularly and measured biochemical indicators to assess the effect of taking the blackcurrant extract capsules before and after exercise,’ he said.
Past studies have shown that compounds in blackcurrants reduced inflammation in muscles caused by typing repetitively on a computer keyboard.
The new study, published in the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative Comparative Physiology, did not identify the compounds that help the body recover from exercise.
September 20th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
If you love cranberry juice, you are in luck – scientists have discovered that it can fight off urinary tract infections in people.
The research illuminates the basic mechanics of E. coli infections, possibly leading to new antibiotic drugs and infection-resistant materials for invasive medical devices.
Urinary infections are caused when virulent E. coli adhere to cells.
The previous study by Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering at WPI, had shown that cranberry juice reduces its ability to attach to urinary tract cells.
The new study explains exactly how this happens.
“This is not a clinical study—it”s a mechanical study that shows us the direct forces that can lead to infection,” said Camesano.
The study revealed that more the amount of juice one drinks, the more the attachment force of the virulent E. coli weakened.
The urine flow cannot generate enough force without the juice to break this attachment to the human cells.
The article is published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
September 20th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Blackcurrants have been used for centuries to treat tiredness, arthritis, kidney stones, gout and lung problems but studies have now revealed that the juice can help prevent aches and strains during exercise.
Researchers say compounds called flavonoids in the berries protect the body from the stresses of working out, reports dailymail.co.uk.
The experiment, led by Roger Hurst at New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, monitored the impact of blackcurrant extract on 10 untrained volunteers.
Those who took the blackcurrant pill before and after daily moderate exercise had fewer signs of “oxidative stress” and muscle damage. Their bodies also had fewer signs of inflammation.
Each pill contained the equivalent of one or two ounces of berries and was taken daily for three weeks before and after exercise.
“In our research we chose a group of 10 healthy everyday people with a wide age range who exercised regularly and measured biochemical indicators to assess the effect of taking the blackcurrant extract capsules before and after exercise,” said Hurst.
Past studies have shown that compounds in blackcurrants reduced inflammation in muscles caused by typing repetitively on a computer keyboard.
Hurst said vitamin C was unlikely to be the miracle ingredient.
“We are looking more closely instead at the role of flavonoids within the fruit. These include anthocyanins, the compounds that gives blackcurrants their brilliant purple colour,” he said.
November 20th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Eating blackcurrants could “help millions of people with asthma”, according to the Daily Express. The newspaper said that the “superfruit” could help by “working with the body’s immune system to reduce inflammation in the lungs”.
The news is based on a laboratory study in New Zealand, which tested blackcurrant extracts on human lung cells in culture. Its findings have shed some light on the complex immune responses to allergens (substances that trigger allergic reactions), in particular those associated with inflammation of lung tissue seen in some asthma attacks. However, as this was a laboratory study on extracted cells, it is too soon to know whether the type of exposure these lung cells had to the blackcurrant extracts (namely incubating the cells with purified blackcurrant compounds) equates to how the body may access them after consumption of blackcurrants.
This is very early research. While the findings may help explain why diets high in some fruits seem to reduce the incidence and prevalence of asthma, it remains to be seen which exact chemical reactions may be responsible. It is also not yet clear whether the substances tested can be purified and turned into a safe and effective form of treatment for certain types of asthma.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by Dr Suzanne Hurst and colleagues from the Plant and Food Research Institute of New Zealand. It was funded by the Foundation for Research Science and Technology of New Zealand and published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
What kind of research was this?
In this laboratory study, which was conducted in cultures of human lung cells, researchers aimed to identify whether the polyphenol compounds found in blackcurrants could target particular cellular activities, thereby complementing the body’s own immune actions.
In allergy-induced asthma, white blood cells called CD4+ T-helper type 2 cells are activated. These cells interact with other types of white blood cells called eosinophils to promote the lung inflammation that is associated with the classic symptoms of asthma. Two particular chemical messengers released by the T-helper 2 cells, called interleukin 4 (IL4) and interleukin 13 (IL13), are responsible for switching on a chemical called eotaxin, which is known to recruit the eosinophil white blood cells to the lungs.
One of three types of eotaxin (known as CCL26) seems to be the most important chemical in recruiting eosinophil white blood cells to the airways. In this study, the researchers investigated whether chemicals extracted from blackcurrants could interrupt the recruitment of eosinophils through the disruption of CCL26 production. They say that recent epidemiological studies (not assessed here) have shown that an increased intake of fresh fruit and vegetables is linked with lower levels of respiratory symptoms and non-specific lung disease. They say that these studies suggest that certain fruits may contain chemicals that can reduce allergen-induced asthma and that they designed this study to see whether this was true of blackcurrants.
What did the research involve?
The researchers conducted several experiments using polyphenols sourced from New Zealand blackcurrants and cultures of human lung cells growing in a special growth medium.
The researchers first exposed cultured cells to different blackcurrant extracts or to a control substance to see whether the substances had any harmful effect on the cells. They then exposed the lung cells to different blackcurrant extracts or to a control in the absence or presence of IL4 or IL13 for 24 hours and measured the effects this had on levels of CCL26. The researchers then investigated the effects of exposure to “total polyphenols” (the mix of polyphenols naturally found in plants) and then to two specific polyphenol chemicals called anthocyanin (BC-A) and proanthocyanidin (BC-P).
The researchers then undertook further experiments to determine the exact action of the polyphenols on the cells and the time it took for the cells to recover from their effects. Further biochemical characterisation was undertaken to determine the exact chemical components of the polyphenols.
In a second set of experiments, the researchers assessed whether the blackcurrant extracts would affect the role of interferon-y (another chemical messenger) in reducing the secretion of CCL26. Interferons are secreted by a different type of CD4+ T-helper cell called type 1 cells. While their action would be helpful for asthmatics, there are fewer of these cells in allergic lung tissue.
What were the basic results?
There were no adverse effects on the cultured cells when they were incubated in polyphenols extracted from blackcurrants. Initial exposure to the IL4 and IL13 chemical messengers led to secretion of CCL26 from the cells. Incubating lung cells with proanthocyanidin (BC-P) and IL4 or IL13 inhibited the secretion of CCL26 that would normally occur. However, no inhibiting effect was seen when the cells were incubated with anthocyanin (BC-A) and IL4 or IL13. The inhibitory effect of BC-P was no longer present 24 hours after the cells were washed and incubated with IL4 again.
The blackcurrant extract proanthocyanidin (BC-P) enhanced the action of interferon-y (INF-y) in suppressing CCL26 secretion, with the combination of BC-P and INF-y being more effective than either on its own. A chemical called epigallocatechin (EGC) seemed to be the active component of BC-P.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that their results demonstrate that an extract from blackcurrants can suppress the CCL26 secretion that is stimulated by IL4 and IL13, both on its own and in conjunction with interferon-y. They say the fact that BC-P but not BC-A had an effect on this pathway suggests that they may be involved in similar but distinct events in the cells.
Conclusion
This laboratory study has revealed how certain chemicals can affect the complex pathways that underpin the response that lung cells have to known chemical messengers. The study has shown that, when lung cells were incubated with certain blackcurrant extracts, they were able to inhibit the expected release of a substance that is known to lead to the lung inflammation seen in the human allergic asthma response. The authors discuss the findings of some epidemiological studies that show that consumption of selective fruits lowers the incidence and prevalence of asthma, particularly in children. The findings from their research may help explain why that may be the case. However, the results come from tests on lung cells in the laboratory, meaning that their applicability to living systems, whether human or animal, is currently uncertain and that the study should be viewed as very preliminary research into the potential pathways for asthma treatment.
The researchers raise the important issue of the “bioavailability” of the plant-derived phytochemicals, i.e. how and at what rate a substance can enter the circulatory system in a human and, therefore, become available for the body to use. They say that these chemicals are found as complex compounds in plants, but that other studies have found that chemicals and enzymes in the gut can break the large molecules down into smaller molecules, which can be more easily absorbed. Whether this process happens in humans, and how the by-products of digestion will affect the immune responses in living people’s lung tissue, will need to be the subject of further study.
A healthy, balanced diet is important for a number of well-established reasons. Asthma medication should not be replaced by blackcurrants until this research has moved on further.