3 Berries that are Good For You

Super-Berries?

Superfoods

If you have recently flicked through the pages of a healthy eating magazine, read a food blog or follow a foodie on Twitter you’ve almost certainly heard that berries of all varieties are one of the newest superfoods. Superfoods are, according to The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk) are “foods packed with nutrients that supposedly have health-giving properties”. Now the obvious falsity with that as a statement is that ALL nutrients have health-giving properties, is we get the correct amount of each for a balanced diet. So what makes a superfood different from any other food?

It would appear that the big difference is similar to the difference between the average man on the street, and a super hero. Inside, there is more good stuff. Something generally classed as a superfood has little ‘wrong’ with it from a nutritional viewpoint. Check out our superfood blogs, part 1, part 2 and part 3.That said, all heroes have their dark side, and so do superfoods.

This article will be addressing one of the types of superfood, and trying to find the kryptonite, if any exists, that can take the superfood down. That superfood is berries.

When we say berries, we are talking about a group of small fruits, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. Each of them is a sweet tasting fruit with seeds that can be bought whole and eaten raw after washing.

1. Blackberries

Are these berries the best?

Blackberries appear to have an excellent balance of nutrients. They are low in fat, with only 4 calories coming from 100g of them, and no cholesterol whatsoever. So if you’re on a low fat diet, they are great. As for carbohydrates, these berries are great. They contain 5g of sugar, and 5g of fibre per 100g. That’s only 1.5% of your daily recommended amount of carbohydrates. The fibre is 21% of your RDA, which can be problematic if you’re heavily invested in wholemeal products, and push the limits of your fibre intake, as this can result in cramping and intestinal issues, but as long as you’re careful you should be fine. There is little protein in them, but you don’t eat fruit for protein purposes. They are also full of vitamins and minerals. With 32% of your daily manganese, you are getting plenty of that, which is essential for bone growth, healing and it works as an antioxidant. They also have 35% of your daily vitamin C, which is great for your immune system and you can’t get too much of it. But the blackberry does have a weakness. Vitamin K is essential for healthy bones, and is made naturally in the body. Your body can store it in fat, and excrete is as urine if we have too much. But for the extra health conscious who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, while taking multi vitamins can overdose, causing bleeding from the nose, skin and organs. With 25% of your RDA vitamin K coming from just 100g of blackberries, you have to watch how many berries you have.

Could a raspberry be the perfect snack?

2. Raspberries

Raspberries are another excellent source of quality carbohydrates. In fact, they outdo the blackberry in this department. With 12g of carbohydrates in 100g of raspberries, but 6.5g of those as fibre, there is actually less sugar in raspberries, so it’s excellent for your low sugar diet. They contain slightly higher amounts of fat, but only by a single calorie per 100g, as well as low levels of protein. If you’re ill and you want extra vitamin C, these are great, as they contain 44% of your RDA, and the vitamin K level is only 10% of your RDA, so the weakness of the blackberry is removed. The lack of cholesterol and sodium, and they have a really low glycaemic load, so the sugar doesn’t immediately affect your blood sugar. The raspberry has very little wrong with it really, though they are quite tasty, so you might be tempted to keep eating them!

Blueberries - Really a superfood?

3. Blueberries

The blueberry is the final ‘superfood’ for this blog. But this berry is not so super, and is to be approached with care. Firstly, although its packet might show it has similar levels of fat and cholesterol as the other berries, it does contain more carbohydrate, and more importantly, it contains 10g of sugar per 100g. This means a significant amount more calories in 100g of berries, and those are not calories you need for the taste! In addition, the blueberry have less vitamin C and manganese than there superfood friends. They are also fairly low in all other vitamins and minerals.  The blueberry is the least nutritious of all the berries seen here, but you could be fooled in the shop by the lack of information on the label.

Conclusions

So, it appears superfoods might exist. Certainly the blackberry and the raspberry are main characters in the nutrition universe. Low salt, fat and protein, limited sugar, and good vitamin and mineral content mean that you get good quality nutrition from them. If you take into account some recent research from the Society for the Study of Study of Ingestive Behaviour sound that food in small parts makes us feel more full, so you’re going to feel fuller, faster, and eat less berries. Combine the psychological fullness with the high fibre creating physiological fullness and you are onto a healthy snack that satisfies your hunger. But be careful, because some innocent looking berries can be worse for you, with higher sugar levels and lower antioxidant properties. Always think about how snacking on these fruits might impact on your overall diet, and ensure that you have a varied nutritious balance.

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