Eat These Every Day: Berries

 Berries: 

As a group, berries average nearly 10 times more antioxidants than other fruits and vegetables (and exceed 50 times more than animal-based foods). Dr. Greger recommends at least one daily serving of berries, along with a minimum of three daily servings of other fruits.  Frozen berries retain most of their nutrients and are cheaper than fresh  

green grapes, which, technically, are berries, but nutritionally, are the Wonder Bread of the fruit kingdom.

A famous pair of Harvard studies, which involve so many people over so long a time they’ve by now chalked up millions of “person-years” of data, found that the consumption of “anthocyanin-rich foods”—foods containing those bright-colored plant pigments—was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes over time, “particularly blueberries.” Just two or three servings a week associated with a 23 percent lower risk. 

Eat berries every day  

Include at least 1 serving of blueberries and 2 servings of strawberries each week.

Berries are high in antioxidants.  Antioxidants are important disease-fighting compounds. Scientists believe they help prevent and repair the stress that comes from oxidation, a natural process that occurs during normal cell function. A small percentage of cells becomes damaged during oxidation and turns into free radicals, which can start a chain reaction to harming more cells and possibly disease. Unchecked free radical activity has been linked to cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

A serving is 1/2 cup fresh or 1/4 cup dried

Wild blueberries are the winner overall. Just one cup has 13,427 total antioxidants - vitamins A & C, plus flavonoids (a type of antioxidant) like querticin and anthocyanidin. That's about 10 times the USDA's recommendation, in just one cup! Cultivated blueberries have 9,019 per cup and are equally vitamin-rich

Cranberries (8,983)

Blackberries (7,701), raspberries (6,058), strawberries (5,938), black plums (4,873), sweet cherries (4,873), and red grapes (2,016) are also brimming with vitamins A and C and flavonoids like catechin, epicatechin, quercetin, and anthocyanidin

Dried versions of these fruits are smaller, but they still have plenty of antioxidants. For instance, just half a cup of these dried fruits packs quite a punch: prunes (7,291), dates (3,467), figs (2,537), and raisins (2,490)

tart cherries are so anti-inflammatory they can be used to treat gout, a painful type of arthritis

A number of studies show that Concord grapes and grape juice have a higher concentration of antioxidants than ordinary table grapes

One half cup of blueberries lowers inflammation and insulin resistance  as much as walking 1 hour every single day  and improves resistance to free radicals that damage DNA.  The benefit fighting free radicals lasts about 2 jours, so eat them before or with a meal .  Blueberries improve artery function.

the absorption of berry nutrients can be blocked by dairy.  The inhibitory effects of milk [are thought to] be due to [the] interaction [between the berry pigments] and milk proteins.”  You will end up not only gaining less benefit from the berries with milk, you will end up with less antioxidant capacity than if you didnt eat the berries at all because the milk 

if you eat blueberries week after week, you get chronic benefits too, in terms of reduced artery stiffness, and a boost in your natural killer cells, which are one of your body’s natural first lines of defense against viral infections and cancer.

Another antioxidant called reservatrol, found in red grapes, raspberries, and mulberries, seems to affect age-regulated genes, allowing cells to live longer and offsetting the risk of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

blueberry pigments are metabolized by our liver and our microbiome—the good bacteria in our gut—into these active metabolites that are then what’s absorbed into our system. 

a day later, we may still be experiencing berry benefits as our gut bacteria continue to churn out goodies that get absorbed back into our system, feeding us as we feed them. Eating blueberries can so feed our good bacteria that it’s like taking a natural probiotic: a win-win all around.

the addition of easily achievable quantities of blueberries to the diets of older adults can improve some aspects of cognition,” like long-term memory

C]ognitive performance improve[ments] across all measures,” and the more berries, the better. And, this wasn’t after twelve weeks of eating berries, but within hours of just a single blueberry meal.