The benefits of berries
There are lots of benefits to eating berries, but eating them can be messy. You know how blackberries stain your fingers (and clothes!)?
The pigment in the berries which stains us, is from something called anthocyanins. These give dark coloured berries their gorgeous deep colour.
Antioxidants in berries
There are a good range of antioxidants in berries, such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid, and resveratrol. These molecules, as well as staining our fingers and clothees are also super good for our body when we eat them.
Blueberries are a healthy snack
In one study the equivalent of one cup of blueberries a day for 6 months helped to reduce the health markers which were associated with heart disease.
The participants of the study were overweight, and had problems with their blood sugar and fats in the blood. At the end of 6 months they had improved insulin resistance, and blood vessel health. This is good news for berry lovers.
Eat more raspberries
It’s not just blueberries. Raspberries have been linked to lower blood pressure, perhaps due to their high potassium content.
As well as including these anthocyanins, berries are also low GI (meaning they have a lower impact on our blood sugar levels when we eat them) and they are rich in fibre.
Related post – What are superfoods?
Fibre for weight loss and gut health
Another one of the benefit of berries, is that they are also high in fibre which supports healthy weight management. This is because fibre helps us stay fuller for longer. And when we eat a higher fibre diet, we may absorb fewer calories in our diet.
The fibre in berries may help us maintain and develop a healthy gut microbiome as well. The beneficial bacterial feed on fibre in our food so we need a varied diet to help keep the microbes happy.
How to eat berries
They are so delicious, eating berries every day is ideal! But berries can be quite pricey.
If you can’t afford fresh berries, then a big bag of frozen berries is just as good. The benefits of berries are the same for frozen as for fresh.
Keep a store of frozen berries in the freezer and add to smoothies, on top of porridge, mix into a flapjack mixture, or make a crumble.
IBS Nutritionist
Hi, I'm Anna Mapson, registered Nutritional Therapist.
I help people with IBS and SIBO get control of unpredictable gut symptoms to find long term relief from painful and embarrassing IBS without restrictive dieting.
I can help you to:
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