Colorful, juicy, tasty and power-packed, raspberries are one of the most popular fruits around the world. Rich in antioxidants, raspberries come in two colors, black and red and are have nutritional benefits that helps the body fight various diseases and also to keep it young.
Love raspberries but can’t get hold of a fresh batch every time you crave for it? Stock the dried variants. Dried raspberries pack as much nutrients as the fresh ones. Raspberries can be dehydrated and stored for that quick sprinkling over morning cereals or over a decadent pastry! Or soak them in water so they taste like fresh ones. They are excellent with fresh yogurt, too. Can you think of a better mid meal snack than these dried raspberries?
A cup of dried raspberries (123 g) has just 63 calories and is rich in vitamin C (54% of the RDI), manganese (41% of the RDI), vitamin K (12% of the RDI) and other essential minerals like magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and copper. A cup of raspberries has about 8 g of fiber and 14.7 g of carbs.
Raspberries are rich in antioxidants, thanks to the flavonoid compounds in it.1 Antioxidants are essential compounds in fighting various diseases and slowing down cell degeneration. They also protect enzymes, fats and vitamins in the body. The antioxidants that raspberries have include ellagic acid, vitamin C, catechins, etc. Let’s look at what these berries can do to your health.
1. Boosts Brain Power
A daily diet of raspberries is good for the overall health of the body, especially in children and the elderly due to its neuroprotective effects. In studies done on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, neuroinflammatory processes in the brain are found to play a crucial role in the development of these diseases. This is the case with certain kinds of stroke, too. Raspberries are rich in flavonoids which haves the potential to protect neurons against injury induced by neurotoxins, suppress neuroinflammation, and to promote memory, learning and cognitive function.2 Flavonoids are also found to be capable of promoting beneficial effects on memory and learning which make raspberries an excellent source of nutrients for young children in their early stages of brain development.
2. Fights Cancer And Chronic Diseases
Berries in general are a good source of antioxidants that is capable of fighting various types of cancer. Raspberries are rich in antioxidant vitamin C which is a perfect armor against esophagal cancer, the tenth most common malignancy and the eighth leading cause of cancer‐related deaths worldwide.3 Berries are also rich in a phytochemical called ellagic acid which can fight various types of cancers like cancers of breast, lung and skin.4 5 What more? Raspberries are also a good source of fiber which helps prevent colorectal cancer.6
3. Regulates Blood Sugar Levels
Berries for breakfast seems to be the right approach to controlling the blood sugar levels. Berries are low in calories and high in polyphenols which is the right prescription to regulate blood sugar after meals or post prandial hyperglycemia.7 Berries are also rich in dietary fiber which, the studies show, is beneficial in the treatment of Type-2 diabetes.
4. Works As An Anti Aging Agent
Who wouldn’t want to stay young and healthy longer? Exposure to sun can damage your skin faster. Studies show antioxidants can prevent signs of photo-induced ageing like pigmentation.8 Raspberries are rich in antioxidants like vitamin C and ellagic acid that slow down the ageing process by reducing the oxidative stress in the body.9 10 The compound anthocyanins responsible for the red color of certain raspberries also has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. All these properties make raspberries a go-to anti aging agent.
5. Improves Eye Sight
Enough can’t be said about the health benefits of antioxidants in raspberries. Here’s one more to add to the list. They keep your eyes healthy. Raspberries have an antioxidant called zeaxanthin that’s primarily responsible for it because it can prevent the damage to the eyes caused by UV radiation.11 They help in warding off macular damage caused through UV exposure.
6. Good For The Gut
One way to help your body stay healthy is to keep your gut in optimum condition. What better way to do that than by including fiber-rich food in your diet? Soluble fiber in raspberries slows down digestion process giving the body enough time to absorb all the nutrition and keeping you satiated. Food rich in dietary fiber is a good shield against cancer in the colon and rectum.12 Dietary fiber adds bulk to your stool, making the big job in the morning smooth and regular. This helps prevent constipation and any discomfort related to it. Most importantly, fiber is essential for healthy gut microbiota which in turn aids digestion process.13
In conclusion, raspberries are an excellent fruit to add to your diet for a host of reasons. And they are tasty and abundantly available, too. Store them at home easily by dehydrating them so you can include raspberries in your diet everyday.
References
| ↑1 | Bradish, Christine M., Penelope Perkins-Veazie, Gina E. Fernandez, Guoxiang Xie, and Wei Jia. “Comparison of flavonoid composition of red raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) grown in the southern United States.” Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 60, no. 23 (2011): 5779-5786. |
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| ↑2 | Spencer, Jeremy PE. “Flavonoids and brain health: multiple effects underpinned by common mechanisms.” Genes & nutrition 4, no. 4 (2009): 243. |
| ↑3 | Bo, Yacong, Yan Lu, Yan Zhao, Erjiang Zhao, Ling Yuan, Weiquan Lu, Lingling Cui, and Quanjun Lu. “Association between dietary vitamin C intake and risk of esophageal cancer: A dose–response meta‐analysis.” International journal of cancer 138, no. 8 (2016): 1843-1850. |
| ↑4 | Weber, Courtney, and R. Hai Liu. “Antioxidant capacity and anticancer properties of red raspberry.” In VIII International Rubus and Ribes Symposium 585, pp. 451-457. 2001. |
| ↑5 | Zhang, Hong-Mei, Lei Zhao, Hao Li, Hao Xu, Wen-Wen Chen, and Lin Tao. “Research progress on the anticarcinogenic actions and mechanisms of ellagic acid.” Cancer biology & medicine 11, no. 2 (2014): 92. |
| ↑6, ↑12 | Kunzmann, Andrew T., Helen G. Coleman, Wen-Yi Huang, Cari M. Kitahara, Marie M. Cantwell, and Sonja I. Berndt. “Dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer and incident and recurrent adenoma in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 102, no. 4 (2015): 881-890. |
| ↑7 | Schell, Jace, Nancy M. Betts, Timothy J. Lyons, and Arpita Basu. “Raspberries Improve Postprandial Glucose and Acute and Chronic Inflammation in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.” Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 74, no. 2 (2019): 165-174. |
| ↑8 | Masaki, Hitoshi. “Role of antioxidants in the skin: anti-aging effects.” Journal of dermatological science 58, no. 2 (2010): 85-90. |
| ↑9 | Pullar, Juliet, Anitra Carr, and Margreet Vissers. “The roles of vitamin C in skin health.” Nutrients 9, no. 8 (2017): 866. |
| ↑10 | Bae, Ji‐Young, Jung‐Suk Choi, Sang‐Wook Kang, Yong‐Jin Lee, Jinseu Park, and Young‐Hee Kang. “Dietary compound ellagic acid alleviates skin wrinkle and inflammation induced by UV‐B irradiation.” Experimental Dermatology 19, no. 8 (2010): e182-e190. |
| ↑11 | Mozaffarieh, Maneli, Stefan Sacu, and Andreas Wedrich. “The role of the carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, in protecting against age-related macular degeneration: a review based on controversial evidence.” Nutrition journal 2, no. 1 (2003): 20. |
| ↑13 | Makki, Kassem, Edward C. Deehan, Jens Walter, and Fredrik Bäckhed. “The impact of dietary fiber on gut microbiota in host health and disease.” Cell host & microbe 23, no. 6 (2018): 705-715. |