Kathi Casey, Author, Baby Boomer Health and Wellness Coach, Corporate Wellness Trainer - Kathi's Blog

The Antioxidant Power of Berries

My friend Ned thinks that I was a bear in a previous life, as I’m perfectly happy eating berries and nuts every day for breakfast. Mix in a little yogurt or soymilk and I’m as jolly as Santa Clause on December 25^th. My favorites are blueberries, but strawberries are a close second. Both of these tasty little treats have powerful antioxidants that help protect us from sun damage and free radical damage. In addition, berries also help to fight inflammation – they’re better than an Advil! And now, researchers at Harvard Medical School have published findings that strawberries and three other foods, are associated with a decreased risk of death from all cancers in a large population of elderly people. Their analysis showed that tomatoes, green and yellow veggies and strawberries protect against certain types of cancers. Cool – I guess that bears just naturally  know what’s good for them! I just hope they’ve read that some strawberries are full of pesticides so it’s better to eat the organic variety.

A cup of strawberries has only about 50 calories and serves up 3 grams of fiber.  It has calcium, magnesium, folate and potassium, and about 85 mg of Vitamin C. Just remember to buy organic because strawberries are on the “Dirty Dozen” list of highly contaminated fruit.

A cup of blueberries contains about 84 calories, 3.5 grams of fiber, and also has calcium, magnesium, folate, potassium and 14 mg of vitamin C. And blueberries are not so pesticide rich, so you can buy local, wash them and enjoy all those lovely antioxidants.

Best of Health,

Kathi