When it comes to functional plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, and berries take center stage as powerful allies in improving health, preventing disease, and reducing the risk of chronic conditions. Today we will be talking about berries, a serious superfood. Benefits found from consuming berries has been heavily researched. From blackberries reducing obesity in mice, raspberries improving diabetes, even berries having anticancer properties (something we will touch on in our next blog). Due to the difficulties of tracing chemicals once they have been digested, researchers don’t know the exact reason why berries are so successful as a natural pharmaceutical. However, they have narrowed it down to a group of phytochemicals.
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals are the immune system of plants, crazy to think of plants having an immune system, nevertheless, this protects the plants against diseases, fungi, parasites, and viruses. When we eat these phytochemicals, our body tries to absorb their chemical makeup, while also reacting by overproducing or underproducing certain chemicals in ways that benefit our overall health. How effectively your body can absorb these chemicals is referred to bioavailability. Meaning that a pharmaceutical agent that is able to easily exist in your system and affect your cells would be high in bioavailability. So, in a perfect world, we eat a berry, and our conditions are cured, giving a new meaning to “nature’s medicine”. Unfortunately, the science still lacks in trying to boost the bioavailability of berries and other superfoods. However, this does not mean we see zero benefits from consuming them.
antimicrobial
Berries, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, are not only delicious but also packed with antimicrobial properties. These fruits contain specific phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins, that have been shown to exhibit antimicrobial effects against a variety of bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The antioxidants in berries help protect cells from damage while supporting the immune system. Additionally, some studies show that berry extracts can inhibit the growth of harmful microbes, potentially offering a natural alternative for fighting infections and promoting overall health. Blueberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, and strawberries can inhibit the growth of H. pylori, a bacterium that is a common cause for stomach ulcers. These berries as well showed to inhibit the growth of Salmonella and Staphylococcus (Golovinskaia & Wang, 2021).
antioxidant
Cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and cancer are linked to oxidative stress, with reactive oxygen species (ROS) playing a key role in their development by causing cell damage. Anthocyanins, found in berries, have strong antioxidant properties that can trap ROS, reduce DNA damage, and protect against oxidative stress (Golovinskaia & Wang, 2021). In one study, the oral supplementation of tomato extract (technically tomato is botanically a berry) significantly controlled the risk of cardiovascular diseases, by regulating reduction of blood pressure. Phytochemicals that can be found in berries, like resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, gingerol, phytosterol, and myricetin directly affects inflammation, cell proliferation/migration, oxidative stress, and metabolic disorders, all of which are involved in the development of several noncommunicable diseases (Upadhyay & Dixit, 2015). While doing this research and making these blogs, it is now becoming clear just how important it is to reduce inflammation in our bodies and the type of damage it can cause. With the high concentration of polyphenols, berries offer a natural remedy for combating oxidative stress and inflammation—two culprits behind conditions like diabetes, neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. One of the key risk factors of plaque buildup inside arteries is the increase of oxidative stress. So even a slight decrease brought on by a diet that includes berries could be crucial. In fact, the antioxidant capacity of berries is four times higher than other fruits and ten times higher than vegetables (Golovinskaia & Wang, 2021).
Shameless plug
Given their medicinal potential, berries may one day be hailed as natural pharmaceutical agents. While more clinical trials are needed to unlock the full power of berry phenolics and enhance their bioavailability, the evidence is already compelling: these fruits are not only delicious, but they could also become a cornerstone in the treatment of various diseases. Are you in need for a quick fix of anti-inflammatory-antioxidant goodness? At Sunny Bowls we have low sugar smoothie bowls loaded with fruits, berries, and vegetables. Our most berry packed bowl being the Acai-Berry bowl, featuring acai, blueberry, strawberry, and banana (did you know bananas are a type of berry?). Once ordered you can top this delicious bowl with even more berries, including raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, along with other fruits or nuts, whatever strikes your fancy. Protein can also be added to these bowls for free with a smooth drizzling of almond butter or peanut butter of your choice, giving these bowls a delectably creamy aftertaste.
Citations
- Golovinskaia, O., & Wang, C. K. (2021). Review of Functional and Pharmacological Activities of Berries. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 26(13), 3904. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26133904
- Upadhyay, S., & Dixit, M. (2015). Role of Polyphenols and Other Phytochemicals on Molecular Signaling. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2015, 504253. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/504253
- Ganesan, K., & Xu, B. (2017). A Critical Review on Polyphenols and Health Benefits of Black Soybeans. Nutrients, 9(5), 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9050455