Food Focus: Summer Berries
If you’ve been past a farmers market in the past few weeks, you’re likely to have seen what I consider the start of summer… STRAWBERRIES! And fast on her tail is blueberries and late summer strawberries. Not to leave out stone fruits like peaches, nectarines and plums of course… but berries are… well, they’re the best!
Enjoy berries while they’re in season, and while their at their peak of freshness, flavor and nutritional value. Because they’re so delicious, it’s easy to fulfill your minimum requirement of “5-a day” of fruits & veggies on berries alone! Which is good news since these nutrient powerhouses can help protect you against heart disease, cancers, and aging. Low in fat, and calories, but high in fiber, vitamins, and of course the anti-oxidants that help up ward off those nasty diseases and slow down the aging process.
Berry Nutrition:
When we’re eating berries it’s usually not for how much nutrients they provide, but because they taste so darn good. Nature did that on purpose, you know. Did you know…?
- One cup of sliced strawberries contains a full day’s requirement of Vitamin C.
- One cup of blackberries contains a day’s worth of manganese.
- One cup of raspberries contains a third of our daily niacin needs.
- Berries contain between 4-9 grams of fiber per cup.
In nature, their bright colors attract birds and other animals to eat them, and spread their seeds. The natural chemicals responsible for these bright colors are just the things that are proving to be so healthful to people.
Pesticides & Berries:
Strawberries and Cherries are on the “Dirty Dozen” list of the most heavily contaminated fruits and vegetables. Because the skins of berries are so thin, and the entire fruit is eaten, there is no barrier against the pesticide, fungicides and weed killers that are sprayed on conventional crops. Opt for organic whenever possible.
Berry Selection & Storage:
Berries spoil very quickly, especially if they are wet, stored in damp conditions or bruised at all. Before buying, check carefully for mold or broken berries. Don’t wash your berries until right before you eat them… never store washed berries in the fridge, as they will quickly spoil.
If you can’t eat them right away, either freeze them, make jam, or cook them into sauce. To freeze them, wash, and dry the berries first. Then place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer. When frozen, transfer them to a plastic bag. This will prevent the fruits from clumping together into a big frozen mess in the bag.
Tags: food focus
