Summer is berry season and I’m in heaven. I love berries – raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, all berries!
This is one of my favorite breakfasts: almond butter on Ezekiel Bread toast topped with raspberries.
Not only do berries taste incredibly sweet and delicious, they are nutritional all-stars because of their powerful antioxidants. The antioxidants in berries can help your body fight oxidative stress caused by free radicals that can lead to illness.
Here are some of the ways in which antioxidants can support health.
- The antioxidant known as anthocyanin reduces inflammation and may help prevent and manage arthritis. Anthocyanins work together with quercetin to help slow age-related memory-loss.
- Quercetin, another antioxidant in berries, can also decrease the inflammation in the joints of people with inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
- Vitamin C is another strong antioxidant found in berries. It is largely responsible for the health of collagen, which helps maintain cartilage and aids in joint flexibility. Eating vitamin C-rich berries supports younger looking skin and healthy hair, and may reduce the risk of arthritis, cataracts, and macular degeneration.
- In addition to antioxidants, berries are high in both water and fiber which makes them filling without many calories. Like all fruits, berries can help to support a heatlhy weight, healthy cholesterol, and normal blood pressure.
- Berries are a good source of folate which may protect against cardiovascular disease and age-related memory loss, and since folate contributes to the production of serotonin, it may also help ward off depression and improve your mood.
Without a doubt, eating berries regularly can help improve your health, protect your skin and hair, and prevent certain diseases. That’s why I eat them almost everyday!
Right now it’s blueberry season here in New Jersey. A close friend actually has this blueberry bush growing in her backyard.
With very little effort on her part to care for the bush, it’s producing the most delicious berries. This is what she picked from her backyard blueberry bush last week.
She’s promised to share some of those berries with me soon; and I promised to make this Simple Berry Compote and share some of it with her. It’s one of my favorite berry recipes – incredibly easy and versatile. I use whatever berries are in season and frozen berries when the growing season ends. It stores well in the fridge and can be reheated for a topping on oatmeal, toast, pancakes, and waffles. I mix it in to plain yogurt, as well.
I’d love for you to try the recipe. If you do, send me an email and let me know what you think.
