The Blood Detective: Want to Be Healthier? Then Ride Raspberries to the Rescue
Raspberries are not only delicious, but I consider them a superfood. A superfood carries the potential for contributing to an increased sense of well-being, reduced disease risk and must be delicious.
Raspberries fit the bill. An apple a day cannot compare to the enormous potential that raspberries contribute to health and longevity. If you combine raspberries with other healthy fruits and vegetables, as a nutritious powder that you can mix as a smoothie, the health potential is enormous.
My innovative food supplements, Reds Protect, contains a balance of red raspberries, acerola, pomegranates, cranberries, blackberries, blueberries, papayas, plums, peaches, pears, mangos, watermelon, red currants, nectarines and blood oranges. It also includes dozens of important nutrients that improve immunity, increase energy, improve memory, help reduce pain and inflammation and reduce overall disease risk. For the purpose of this article, I’ll limit my discussion to the raspberry component of Reds Protect.
An edible plant from the genus Rubus, raspberries are perennial but are available through fresh frozen and chilled processing practices all year round. Like all other fruits, raspberries contain health-promoting fibers in unique combination with hundreds of naturally occurring plant compounds (phytonutrients). In fact, raspberries contain the highest percentage of fiber (20 percent) of any fruit. Fiber from raspberries helps to lower cholesterol levels, raise beneficial HDL levels, helps prevent constipation, fatigue, intestinal and liver toxicity and promotes growth of beneficial bacterial (i.e. acidophilus and bifidus) throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
There are hundreds of anti-aging properties in raspberries. It is complex and the health benefits are not completely understood. However, a very special group of antioxidants known as polyphenols have been proven to help slow the human aging process, in particular due to the phenolic antioxidant pigment called anthocyanin. What is understood is that, other than someone disliking the taste of raspberries (no way!), there are no medical or health reasons why anyone cannot eat them in copious amounts. So everyone benefits.
Want your minimum daily dose of vitamin C? Raspberries contain half of this essential antioxidant compound. Vitamin C is required for more than 3,000 enzyme systems in the body and enzymes help repair tissue in virtually every organ. Vitamin C and quercetin, a helper of vitamin C, helps control abnormal cellular and tissue degeneration that results in virtually all manner of disease ranging from arthritis and osteoporosis to brain atrophy, memory loss, heart disease and breast, lung and prostate cancer. There are literally hundreds of antioxidants in raspberries and are combined exactly as nature intended.
Raspberries are also high in manganese required for proper estrogen balance. They keep your metabolism revving, which promotes fat burning and eliminates harmful toxins. Raspberries are rich in iron, folic acid and copper and help to provide needed nutrients to prevent iron, copper and folic acid deficiencies, reduce the risk of birth defects and help protect the brain from degenerative changes.
Loaded with a compound called ellagic acid, raspberries help fight and prevent a large variety of cancer. Phenolic compounds in raspberries help protect the liver and other organs from degeneration, enhance the ability of cells to repair DNA damage potentially resulting in cancerous cells and even offset the side effects of chemotherapy treatment itself.
Raspberries can be eaten fresh, frozen and/or in the form of a dehydrated powder that can be added to any cool or cold liquid. As a main ingredient in a smoothie, raspberries are a power-packed nutritional treat. One-half cut of frozen or fresh raspberries, a banana, half a cup of organic apple juice and half a cup of water is all it takes to fill you up with tons of nutrients with no worries.
My Reds Protect smoothie is not only delicious it far exceeds the new guidelines calling for more than 10 different fruits per day. Let’s face it, consuming this much fruit is impossible unless a concentrated food like Reds Protect is available.
For more information on raspberries and Reds Protect, visit www.blooddetective.com.
Dr. Michael Wald is the author of over 10 books on health. His new book, “The Blood Detective’s Guide to Longevity” will be available in 2013. He is also the director of nutrition at Integrated Medicine of Mount Kisco, P.C. and can be reached at 914-242-8844 ext. 1. Also visit www.intmedny.com and www.blooddetective.com.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
