berries big on antioxidants - Brief Article - Recipe

Better Nutrition, August, 2001

We all know that antioxidants are good, and that they're found in a lot of different fruits and vegetables. But why are antioxidants so good? In a nutshell, many of the problems associated with aging (particularly heart disease and cancer) can be attributed to damage done by free radicals. Antioxidants are good because they seek out and destroy oxygen free radicals. Here's some more good news: antioxidants are found in many different foods, even ones that we love to eat, such as chocolate and red wine!

Every day, more and more research is being released on antioxidants, and recently researchers have found that certain berries have high Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) values, meaning that they contain compounds that are great antioxidants.

Generally speaking, dark-colored berries are naturally high in ellagic acid, which has been shown to kill certain cancer cells. In a recent study led by Dr. Gary Stoner of Ohio State University, freeze-dried black raspberries were shown to block colon cancer by about 50 percent when added to the diets of rodents that had been chemically treated with carcinogens. The study was an extension of earlier research in which freeze-dried strawberries and black raspberries prevented esophageal cancer in rodents by 50-70 percent.

Foods high in ellagic acid include caneberries (black raspberries, red raspberries, boysenberries and Marionberries), strawberries, blueberries and cranberries. Foods with high ORAC values include caneberries, strawberries, spinach and oranges.

Curried Chicken Salad with Marionberries Serves 4.

  1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (approximately 3)
  1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
  1 Tbsp. dry white wine
  2 Tbsp. mango chutney
1/2 Tbsp. curry powder
1/4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 green onion, chopped
  1 celery stalk, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
  2 cups fresh or frozen Marionberries
1/2 cup roasted, salted cashews

Heat olive oil in nonstick cooking pan, add chicken breasts and saute for 5 minutes. Turn, saute for 5 more minutes or until done. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and cool in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Cut meat into 1/2-inch cubes.

Combine mayonnaise, white wine, chutney, curry powder, lemon juice and ginger in a large bowl. Add chicken, onions, celery, raisins and fresh or frozen Marionberries; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. If using frozen berries, allow salad to sit in refrigerator for 1/2 hour before serving. Immediately before serving, add cashews. Serve on a bed of lettuce or in pocket bread.

Recipe courtesy of the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission

Vitamin B-6 also needed to lower homocysteine

Most of us already know that folic acid and vitamin B-12 are important in lowering the heart-disease bad guy, homocysteine, but did we know that vitamin B-6 is critical? An Irish study by Michelle McKinley and others that appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at what would happen when 22 healthy adults aged 68-80 years were given vitamin B-6 over a 12-week period. The researchers found that low-dose vitamin B-6 supplementation "effectively lowered" blood levels of homocysteine, showing that, in fact, a trio of Bs are truly needed: folio acid, vitamin B-12 and B-6.