So Berry Good For You

Once upon a time, black raspberries just had no profile. Sure, this utilitarian fruit made tasty jams, jellies and ice cream. But ask a consumer what the berry actually was--hint: it's not a blackberry, but a smaller purple raspberry--and you got blank stares. "We used to sell the bulk of them to processors to make purple dye--the same dye used to stamp meat USDA approved," says Don Sturm, owner of Sturm's Berry Farm outside Portland, Ore. "We almost never sold them to consumers." That changed two months ago, when biologist Gary Stoner of Ohio State University published a study showing a 60 to 80 percent reduction in colon tumors in rats fed high levels of black raspberries. Now, as the height of berry season approaches, Sturm can barely keep up with the demand on his Web site.

Human trials have yet to be conducted with black raspberries. But 50 years of scientific research have demonstrated that the healthiest diets are rich in fruits and vegetables. And various kinds of berries--while no substitute for broccoli--definitely contribute. New studies suggest they may help prevent everything from cancer and heart disease to age-related brain decline. "In the past we would've said the main reason to eat berries was vitamin C," says Ronald Wrolstad, professor of food science at Oregon State University. "Then we learned about potassium, fiber and folate. Today we're learning that berries are also rich in antioxidants."

Think of them as antioxidant pills--without the need for a visit to the pharmacy. Antioxidants help prevent cellular damage caused by compounds called free radicals. A few years ago Tufts scientists measured the antioxidant levels of 50 fresh fruits and vegetables, and found the top slots were occupied by berries. Much of that antioxidant strength comes from the anthocyanin pigments that tint berries red, purple and blue. The darker the berry, the stronger the protective pigments. In April, physiologist David Bell of the Indiana University School of Medicine reported that extracts of a dark berry called the chokeberry completely shielded coronary arteries in test-tube studies against free radicals that are a prime culprit in heart disease.

And when it comes to brain protection, there's nothing quite like blueberries, according to Tufts neuroscientist James Joseph, coauthor of "The Color Code," a new book about the virtues of eating colorful foods. (This reporter was another coauthor.) In one set of tests, Joseph put rats into chambers containing 100 percent oxygen to mimic the oxidative damage accompanying brain aging. Unprotected rats seemed to age overnight, but blueberry-fed rats had no damage at all. In his best-known set of experiments, aging blueberry-fed rats showed actual improvements on cognitive and motor-skills tests. "I call the blueberry the brain berry," says Joseph, who attibutes the effects to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds.

Berries also show promise in helping to ward off cancer. Microbiologist Lyndon Larcom at Clemson University has just completed a series of test-tube studies indicating that both strawberries and raspberries can block carcinogens of two classes--some that are directly toxic, others that are activated by the body's own metabolic processes.

How many berries do we need to eat? No one really knows. But this spring the National Cancer Institute launched a campaign called Savor the Spectrum, urging Americans to eat fruits and vegetables from each color group every day--orange, red, green and blue-purple. Berries are among the rare blue and purple foods. With the USDA Food Guide Pyramid recommending five to nine servings of produce daily, says Stoner, "let one of your daily helpings of fruit be berries of some sort." It seems they're berry, berry good.

© 2002