Berries, wow do they pack a punch!
Berries are both good for your heart and your brain. A study using blueberry tea was pretty remarkable. It found that blueberry tea has the ability to lower cholesterol in the participants in the study . Eating berries can also improve your cognitive ability, by eating just one cup a day.
Berries are a food with a low calorie density. For me this is crucial as I am a volume eater. One tablespoon of oil has 120 calories, two cups of blackberries also have about 120 calories. You could eat the oil and not feel anything, the berries could actually begin to fill you up.
It is very hard to over eat berries as they fill you up because of all the fiber. For example, a full stomach of about two pints of strawberry ice cream could max out your calories for the day and not fill you up, but if you wanted to get those same calories or so from strawberries you would have to eat forty four cups of berries. That is eleven stomachs full. When you eat berries with your meal they act as starch blockers by inhibiting the enzymes that digest starch.
Polyphenols can boost a beneficial Bifidobacteria bugs. The depletion of these good bugs have been linked to the development of obesity. People who choose food with high polyphenol levels gained significantly less weight than those who did not. Polyphenol in fruit can block the transport of sugars through the intestinal lining slowing absorption. Bananas have a similar fiber content of berries, but fewer polyphenols.
Barberries are as close to the king of dried berries as you can get. These berries are one of the most antioxidant packed dried fruit that can be found. Barberries can also be used to help combat acne. They aid in weight loss as well. These berries should not be ingested while pregnant or breast feeding. They are inexpensive and can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores or on Amazon (that is where I get mine).
Goji berries could be considered the queen of dried berries. These berries help to fight inflammation. The also aid in weight loss, just two tablespoons per day for 45 days lead to a 2.5 inch loss in the study participants waste lines. This is a weight loss drops off about 20 percent in both LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in those participants.
Berries can improve athletic performance and frailty in older adults. High fruit and veggie consumption is associate with a lower short term frailty. Berries reduce muscle soreness, particularly tart cherry juice and cherries. Tart Cherry juice also contributed to less soreness in muscles. Grapes can help with soreness as well.
A study in Finland, the Dairy to Berry experiment, resulted in a greater life expectance in both men and women, 7 years for men and 6 years for women.
What about your teeth? Less processed food more berries, whole grains and tomatoes can improve the health in your mouth. This video is linked below it is very interesting.
Blueberries can improve both mood and mobility in older population.
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