Berry Powerful Nutrients - Get Fit With Nutrient Dense Berries

One of the best parts of summer is the wonderful berry season. The berries are at their sweet best 'in' season and you must take advantage of their powerful nutrients.

A key to knowing berries are healthy are their color. Rich micronutrients are evident in fruits and veggies by color, scent and other properties. Berries have their rich color from phytochemicals within them.

These color phytochemicals are excellent for the body in numerous ways, so many in fact that science is still sorting out the thousands of micronutrients and how each helps the human body. Antioxidant and Cancer fighter is a common term used to describe them.

Frozen berries are available all year and are not as denatured as cooked berries but are still at best when fresh. Of course for the other seasons you can freeze the fresh bought yourself, ensuring quality and freshness when defrosted. Frozen berries are the only way to go for shakes since they help make the shake frothy and by adding some protein powder you are enriching the shake which could also double as a meal when on the run. Better this than to miss eating all together. Frozen berries are also great for crumbles.

A good hint that berries are healing foods is the cranberry example. Doctors frequently suggest daily cranberry juice intake because of its ability to flush toxins from the bladder. Those with chronic bladder infection such as the elderly need this berry in order to decrease the instances of bladder infections without pharmaceuticals.

Blueberries are simply too delicious to be cancer fighters but they are and another great thing these little berries can do is help reduce bad cholesterol. Studies have also shown that blueberries can help slow the disabling of memory and motor skills. Only a handful or so per day and you reduce your loss in memory while keeping your ability to speak clear and concise at optimal levels. Degradation of our memory and motor skills are something that can happen to any of us with aging.

Raspberries are full of excellent phytochemicals but even before we knew what that word meant, raspberries had a reputation for being high in fiber and vitamin C.

Strawberries have many of the qualities listed above alike the berries mentioned. They are rich in potassium, low in calories and have no fat, again alike many of these berries. A simple and common berry to find yet the strawberry is so rich in nutrients, so take advantage of these when they are affordable since prices can vary throughout the year.

My suggestion is to buy a bit of each and make a nice fruit salad topped with some plain no fat yogurt and raw plain almonds. For those who like soy yogurt or cottage cheese you can also use those to make your fruit plate healthy. Some no fat cheese and berries with a slice of rye or mana bread works very well as a snack or breakfast. Soft tofu also goes well with berries.

A fun way to get berries during the summer is to head out to the farm with friends and family and pick them yourself. Great activity while spending time with others and you get to eat the fruits of your labor……literally!

By Linda Cusmano