Berry Health Bonus
Ahh, a perfectly sweet strawberry, fresh from the garden or a roadside stand. Nothing can beat that intoxicating aroma and juicy sweet flavor. Can you imagine what fresh fruit was like for our early ancestors, who eagerly anticipated the first warm days of summer and the first glimpse of the season’s ruby and purple berries against the green, dense forest? Apart from an occasional bee hive here and there, fruits were the only sweet thing our ancestors got to experience. Just think how they must have savored that first sweet explosion in their mouths that marked the fruit-bearing season. No wonder summer berries played such a significant role in our culinary, medicinal, and nutritional past.
Nearly every ancient people developed traditions around these naturally sweet plant foods. For the Native Americans, blueberries—or “star berries”, for the star shape of the berry’s blossom end—was a gift from the Great Spirit to relieve their hunger and illness. They collected blueberries in forests and bogs and dried them in order to savor them throughout the year in soups and stews. The juice and leaves of blueberries were used for medicinal purposes, such as to soothe a sore throat or to “boost the blood”. In the cold climates of Scandinavia—where fruits and vegetables flourish briefly during a summer filled with long, sunny days—old traditions of preserving the prodigious bounty of summer berries that fill the forests have been passed down through the years. Berries such as lingonberries are preserved into a jam called silt that will then accompany savory dishes all year long, and an assortment of berries, including elderberries, raspberries, and black currants, are cooked down into a concentrated syrup that can later be reconstituted into a drink called saft. These traditions not only took full advantage of the indigenous plant foods that were available, but they supplied sweet and delicious flavors—as well as potent nutrients—to people, which helped to sustain them all year long.
Did you know that berries seem to have a unique relationship with birds and humans? Scientists at the University of Rhode Island believe that the reason both birds and humans possess trichromatic vision—the ability to distinguish the color red from green—is that we evolved this trait in order to find the berries growing hidden among dense, green leafy vines and bushes. When birds and humans ate the berries, they helped to disperse the seeds and ensure the survival of the berry plants. The plant also placed powerful phytochemicals in berries’ flesh that protected them from pests and environmental damage. These compounds also have a profound impact on humans: They appear to reduce the risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and age-related mental decline.
I attended the Berry Health Symposium in March, and was impressed with the latest science in support of the health benefits of powerful berries, including raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, and blueberries. Now scientists know that these berry phytochemicals, which provide bright colors that attract pollinators and birds to eat and then disperse their seeds, are converted in our bodies into secondary metabolites, which appear to have benefits beyond antioxidants. They have different areas of health, such as cancer prevention and brain, gut, and heart health. Researchers are moving away from laboratory studies to studies of the human system in order to understand how berry compounds are absorbed, metabolized, excreted, absorbed, and distributed in the body.
The world of berry health is fascinating and promising. Which is why I continue to recommend consuming a serving of berries every day to capture their health benefits. Get inspired with a few of my favorite berry recipes:
Wild Blueberry Purple Power Smoothie (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Berry Quinoa Power Bowl (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Cranberry Pear Steel Cut Oats (Vegan, Gluten-Free)