Your favorite summer fruits are true health stars. New studies show that berries and other red, blue and purple fruits are even more antioxidant-rich than researchers had thought, with body wide benefits. And the calorie cost is low: One cup of raspberries, for instance, has only 65 calories and no fat (plus a healthy eight grams of fiber). So savor our desserts or fill up on fresh fruit, guilt free.
- Put blackberries on your shopping list. They have the most antioxidants per serving even more than super foods like red wine, dark chocolate and red cabbage.
- Slice up some vitamin C. One serving of strawberries (about one cup) contains 144% of the daily value of vitamin C. That’s 24 percent more than a typical eight ounce glass of orange juice from a carton.
- Grab a plum for an on-the-run snack. A recent study found that some varieties may have just as many antioxidants as a half cup of blueberries. Be sure to eat the skin: That’s where the bulk of a plum’s (and most other fruits) disease fighting phytonutrients reside.
- Benefit from the blues. New research suggest blueberries may help keep high blood pressure in check. Canadian researchers report that feeding stroke prone animals a blueberry enriched diet for six weeks lowered their systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 30 percent compared with that of animals on a control diet.
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When I was suffering a number of stress related problems, I started to make a berry milk shake for breakfast every morning. Milk, banana, some ovaltine, and berries. Really yummy and got me on the road to a much better diet and lifestyle!