A Delicious Memory Booster

This delicious taste treat boosts your memory.

You may be surprised to find out (like these researchers) the amazing value of these delicious little fruits in keeping you bright, alert and healthy.

Berries keep your brain healthier

The folks who ate berries in the Nurses’ Health Study (1995-2001) delayed the onset of memory loss and mental cognitive decline by 2.5 years. Eating only half a cup of blueberries or a cup of strawberries per week facilitated memory improvement. What a delicious way to protect our brains.

What’s the secret in berries? It’s the flavonoid compounds that fight inflammation and oxidation (free radical damage like rusting). Another study indicated that the anthocyanidins in these flavonoids go right to and attach themselves in the region of the brain that controls memory.

Blueberries strengthen bone and increase bone mass

And here’s another blueberry health benefit.

At least in rats. Researchers fed young rats freeze-dried blueberry powder. In only 2 weeks these little rats increased their bone mass 36% more than the young rats that didn’t eat the blueberry powder. In addition the mineral content of their bones increased 22% more than the rats without blueberries in their diet.

The phenols in the berries stimulated the osteoblasts (bone building cells) into producing more bone.

Now that’s a potent little berry. No wonder we love it so much.

Black raspberries against colon cancer

Have you ever heard of them? Take note – they are not blackberries, but rather raspberries that are quite dark. And they may not be easy to find because they mostly grow in Oregon. I had some in my garden at one time but they had such treacherous thorns that I took them out. Maybe I should reconsider after reviewing this study!

Researchers caused colon cancer to grow in mice. All of the mice (including the control and test groups) were fed diets that favored the development of colon cancer. But the test group also ate black raspberries. The mice with the good fortune of eating the black raspberries developed 50% fewer cancer tumors than the control group and experienced less inflammation in their intestines.

Other researchers at the University of Connecticut confirmed the anti-inflammatory effects of feeding black raspberries to mice with ulcerative colitis, which can increase the risk for developing colon cancer.

And yet a third group of researchers exposed colon cancer cells growing in a dish to various concentrations of black raspberry extract. All concentrations stopped the growth of the cancer cells.

Now that’s one potent little berry.

Other health benefits of eating berries

The Oregon State educational web site summarizes other health benefits of eating berries:

Decrease risk of certain cancers

Help maintain urinary tract health

Contribute to healthy aging

They attribute these powerful affects to the high antioxidant content of berries which have the highest antioxidant content of any fruit. Of all of the vegetables only spinach and kale contain as many antioxidants as the berries.

Fascinating research

Isn’t it amazing that research studies simply confirm the practical knowledge of whole fresh raw food lovers. Eating a variety of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables keeps us healthy and prevents disease. Keep eating your rainbow diet and throw in some delicious berries regularly. It’s fun and delicious to eat healthy.

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22535616

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/1/215S.full

http://berryhealth.fst.oregonstate.edu/health_healing/fact_sheets/

http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/3/11/1443

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/colon-cancer/overview.html

http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21098643

Blessings,

Dr. Jo