Berries

Antioxidant-rich berries are amazingly healthy and should be included in your diet as much as possible. Brightly colored berries have double the antioxidants of the paler berries.

Women's World Magazine cited a study by Oslo University researchers, which named Blueberries, Blackberries, Cranberries, Raspberries and Strawberries as some of the top ten age-defying foods due to having the highest concentration of antioxidants.

The study also narrows the list down to the top five healthiest foods, with Blackberries, Cranberries and Strawberries making that list as well.

Blueberries boost memory, stabilize blood sugar, protect your heart and combat cancer. They even prevent constipation. Blueberries can also help prevent urinary tract infections, improve your night vision and aid your adjustment to bright lights.

A half cup of blueberries is equal to the antioxidants in two and a half cups of chopped spinach. Which would you rather eat?

Blueberries are great for fighting inflammation. Most pain is caused by inflammation. That's what ibuprofen does, it reduces inflammation, can you imagine eating a bowl of blueberries instead?

The flavanoids in blueberries stimulate your skin to produce more collagen and prevent wrinkles. Think about all those expensive collagen treatments and creams you won't need to buy anymore! You can stay young by eating blueberries instead!

South Haven, Michigan has a blueberry festival every summer. South Haven also offers a store dedicated solely to all things "blueberry" and you would not believe the things they have there. I have some blueberry coffee from their store, and I just love it!

The antioxidants in berries mop up heart damaging free radicals and subdue the free radicals. Antioxidants combat cancer and slow the aging process.

Black raspberries build up free radicals preventing them from causing damage; according to Gary Stoner, PhD from Ohio State University whom Women's World Magazine quotes as saying there were 80% fewer cancerous tumors in the colon and the tumors that did form were smaller.

Fresh strawberries are great with chocolate and dark and semi-dark chocolate is good for you as well. Why not get some fresh strawberries and after cleaning and drying them, make a nice chocolate dip and dip them? Set them on waxed paper to dry, they'll stick to anything else and it will ruin the chocolate when you pull them up. Serve them to your family as an extra surprise or offer them up next time you have company instead of the usual unhealthy choices like cookies or pie.

Also, what fruit doesn't taste great dipped in marshmallow fluff dip? Fruit is great alone, this is true, but dipping it makes it more exciting and it can substitute for a less healthy dessert. When playing games with family and friends, serve up bowls of berries to snack on with toothpicks to pick them up and eat them with so the cards don't get sticky.

I personally love adding berries to plain yogurt. It's a lot less expensive than buying the flavored yogurts. You can get plain or vanilla yogurt and stir in your own fresh or frozen berries at a fraction of the cost of buying the pre-berried yogurts.

I think you can see how easy it would be to incorporate a diet rich in berries into your own and your families lives ... and yes, you can still sprinkle some berries on your kids cereal in the morning, add them to your pancake batter, or stir them in with your oatmeal! However you decide to eat berries, I'm sure you will be a lot healthier: enjoy!

Sources:

I did not get my information from this link but it is where Women's World got the information:http://folk.uio.no/runeb/ Oslo University Researchers

Women's World Magazines (I've been collecting notes from them on various properties of this that and the other thing for years now)

I did not get it from this link either, but it supports what I am saying here
http://preventdisease.com/home/weeklywellness174.shtml

My own personal knowledge is where I got most of my information, I've studied nutrition my whole life

http://www.theblueberrystore.com