In common parlance and cuisine, the term "berry" refers generically to any small, sweet fruit; in this sense, the strawberry is a berry and the tomato is not. Other berries in this, but not the botanical, sense include aggregate fruits such as the blackberry, the raspberry, and the boysenberry. These fruits tend to be small, sweet, juicy, and of a bright color contrasting with their background to make them more attractive to animals that disperse them and thus scatter widely the seeds of the plant. For information on fruits.

Nutritional benefit of berries
Berries contain a great deal of beneficial compounds. Berries are full of antioxidants and flavonoids. They are low in calories, and high in water and fiber and their taste satisfies sweets cravings for a fraction of the calories in baked goods. Berries are a particularly rich source of polyphenols. They also contain other bioactive substances, such as vitamin C. The consumption of polyphenol-rich foods (eg, cocoa, tea, and red wine) has beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.

High Quality products formulated by a medical doctor
Mind Power Rx for better mental focus, concentration, and mood; Diet Rx which helps you eat less. It really does curb appetite; Good Night Rx with magnolia bark for better sleep; Eyesight Rx for better vision, often within days; MultiVit Rx a daily comprehensive multivitamin for more energy and vitality; Joint Power Rx for healthy joints; Prostate Power Rx for a healthy prostate gland; and Passion Rx for sexual enhancement, better libido, and improved performance and stamina in men and women.

Health benefit of berries

A diet rich in berries improves levels of HDL cholesterol and improves blood pressure. Berries have benefits for heart health.

Types of Berries

Berries are widely available fresh, frozen, or dried. They can add flavor and nutrition to numerous dishes, from salads and cereals to baked goods and yogurt. Here is a list of berries: Aronia berry, Bearberry, Blackberry, Black Currant (also available as a supplement), Blueberry, Boysenberry, Chokeberry,  Cranberry, Gooseberry, Lingonberry, Maqui berry from South America, Mulberry, Pyracantha berry, Raspberry, Strawberry and Yumberry from China.
 

North American berries commonly consumed by Americans
Common berries include blackberry ( Rubus spp.), black raspberry ( Rubus occidentalis), blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum), cranberry (i.e., the American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, distinct from the European cranberry, V. oxycoccus), pomegranate ( Punica granatum), red raspberry ( Rubus idaeus) and strawberry ( Fragaria x ananassa).

North American berries consumed by tribal communities

These include chokecherry ( Prunus virginiana), highbush cranberry ( Viburnum trilobum), serviceberry ( Amelanchier alnifolia), and silver buffaloberry ( Shepherdia argentea).

Berries popular in other parts of the world
Açaí berry ( Euterpe oleraceae) from Brazil, arctic bramble ( Rubus articus), bilberries ( Vaccinuim myrtillus; also known as bog whortleberries), black currant ( Ribes nigrum), boysenberries ( Rubus spp.), cloudberries ( Rubus chamaemorus), crowberries ( Empetrum nigrum, E. hermaphroditum), elderberries ( Sambucus spp.), goji berries ( Lycium barbarum; also known as wolfberry), gooseberry ( Ribes uva-crispa), lingonberries ( Vaccinium vitis-idaea), loganberry ( Rubus loganobaccus), maqui berry ( Aristotelia chilensis) from Chile, marionberries ( Rubus spp.), Rowan berries ( Sorbus spp.), and sea buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides), are also popularly consumed in other parts of the world.

Buying extracts of berries
Several berries are available in supplement form, often as an extract. If you would like to buy these supplements, see Bilberry for extract from bilberries, and Cranberry for extract from cranberries.

Berries Health Benefit

Berries are often described as “super foods,” but then, so are many other foods such as soy, garlic, and various vegetables. Are berries really such a nutritional powerhouse, or are they just one more fruit option? And is one kind of berry really better than the rest? Research does show that berries are among the fruits highest in antioxidant content and that they are excellent sources of several phytochemicals that seem to help block cancer development. However, other fruits and vegetables provide different nutrients and phytochemicals with unique health benefits.  The best advice, then, is to eat berries often for their great taste and health boost, but stay focused on the main goal of eating a wide variety of produce every day.
   Edible berries have health benefits in terms of cardiovascular disorders, advancing age-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and diverse degenerative diseases. Berry anthocyanins also improve neuronal and cognitive brain functions and visual health.

Chemical Composition of Berries
Some of the known substances in berries include vitamins A, C, and E and folic acid; calcium and selenium; beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lutein; polyphenols such as ellagic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, quercetin, and several anthocyanins; and phytosterols such as beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and kaempferol.

Strawberries have several anthocyanins
The phenolics in strawberries include cyanidin-3-glucoside, pelargonidin, pelargonidin-3-glucoside, pelargonidin-3-rutinoside, kaempferol, quercetin, kaempferol-3-(6'-coumaroyl)glucoside, 3,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl-acrylic acid, glucose ester of ( E)- p-coumaric acid, and ellagic acid.

Quercetin in Berries
Bioavailability of quercetin from berries and the diet.
Nutr Cancer. 2006;54(1):13-7. Department of Health and Functional Capacity, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Berries are a rich source of various polyphenols, including the flavonoid quercetin. In this article, the results of three intervention studies investigating the bioavailability of quercetin from berries are reviewed. In the first study, we investigated the short-term kinetics of quercetin after consumption of black currant juice and showed that quercetin is rapidly absorbed from it. In the second study, we showed that plasma quercetin levels increase up to 50% in subjects consuming 100 g/day of bilberries, black currants, and lingonberries as a part of their normal diets for 2 mo. In the third study, healthy subjects consumed a diet high or low in vegetables, berries, and other fruit for 6 wk. Quercetin concentrations nearly doubled in the high-vegetable, -berry, and -other fruit group and decreased by 30% in subjects consuming less of these foods than normally. The results showed that plasma quercetin is bioavailable from a diet containing berries and indicate that it may be a good biomarker of fruit and vegetable intake in general.

Phytochemicals in Berries

Much of the antioxidant power of fruits and vegetables comes not from the classic antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin C, but from natural protective compounds called phytochemicals. These include a number of categories such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid, pterostilbene, and countless others. Anthocyanins are a group of phytochemicals that give many berries their red color. In laboratory studies, anthocyanins inhibit growth of lung, colon and leukemia cancer cells without affecting growth of healthy cells. Decreased cancer development is also seen in animals given anthocyanins. Ellagic acid is another important phytochemical in virtually all berries. More than a simple antioxidant, ellagic acid also blocks metabolic pathways that can lead to cancer. In animals, it has inhibited development of colon, esophageal, liver, lung and skin cancers stemming from a variety of carcinogens. Pterostilbene is yet another powerful antioxidant phytochemical that seems to affect metabolic processes to decrease development of both cancer and heart disease. Blueberries are an excellent source of this relative of the health-promoting resveratrol that is found in grapes and red wine. Phytochemicals seem to be a vital part of the benefits we get from berries. One study showed that strawberries’ power to inhibit cancer cell growth was unrelated to their antioxidant content, suggesting that the direct influences of the phytochemicals on cancer development are very important. Concentrations of phytochemicals normally found in the blood after eating berries are enough to substantially decrease cancer cells’ growth and to stimulate their self-destruction, but more study is needed. Overall, research on phytochemicals shows that looking at the effects of single foods does not show the full picture. Studies show that a wide range of phytochemicals found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans act together in ways far greater than would be expected from looking at them individually. That’s why, as fabulously healthy as berries are, the bottom line has to be abundance and variety of many fruits and vegetables.

Berries for the Brain

Extracts from blueberries and strawberries could protect against the oxidative stress behind aging, and could even protect astronauts from dangerous galactic radiation, suggests a new study partly supported by NASA. Scientists from Tufts University and the University of Maryland, exposed rats to radiation in order to induce behavioural and neuronal effects that mirror those observed during the natural process of ageing. Previous research has shown that exposure to a radioactive iron source results in a decline of a range of cognitive functions, including motor performance, spatial learning and memory. The new study reports that rats fed a diet supplemented with either strawberry or blueberry extracts for eight weeks before exposure to the radiation were protected from some of the reductions in brain function. And interestingly, the high-energy and charge particles found in the radiation are also found outside the Earth's magnetic field, suggesting, say the researchers, that astronauts on a manned-mission to Mars may also benefit from daily berry supplements.Both berries appear to be helpful. The antioxidant diets and the different polyphenols in these berries act in different brain regions to produce their beneficial effects. This suggests that one should consume a variety of berries as opposed to just one or two.

Berries and Cancer Prevention
Protection against esophageal cancer in rodents with lyophilized berries: potential mechanisms.
Nutr Cancer. 2006;54(1):33-46. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus
For several years, our laboratory has been evaluating the ability of lyophilized (freeze-dried) berries such as black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis, BRBs), blackberries (R. fructicosus, BBs), and strawberries (Fragaria ananasia, STRWs) to inhibit carcinogen-induced cancer in the rodent esophagus. To assure "standardized" preparations of berries for study, each berry type is of the same cultivar, picked at about the same degree of ripeness, washed and frozen within 2-4 h of the time of picking, and freeze-dried under conditions that preserve the components in the berries.  In initial bioassays, freeze-dried STRW, BRB, and BB powders were mixed into AIN-76A synthetic diet at concentrations of 5% and 10% and fed to Fischer 344 rats before, during, and after treatment with the esophageal carcinogen N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA). At 25 wk of the bioassay, all three berries were found to inhibit the number of esophageal tumors (papillomas) in NMBA-treated animals by 24-56% relative to NMBA controls. This inhibition correlated with reductions in the formation of the NMBA-induced O6-methylguanine adduct in esophageal DNA, suggesting that the berries influenced the metabolism of NMBA leading to reduced DNA damage. Studies are ongoing to determine the mechanisms by which berries influence NMBA metabolism and DNA adduct formation. Berries, therefore, inhibit tumor promotion and progression events as well as tumor initiation.
 

Berries for Helicobacter Pylori

Inhibition of Helicobacter pylori in vitro by various berry extracts, with enhanced susceptibility to clarithromycin.
Mol Cell Biochem. 2004 Oct;265(1-2):19-26.
Department of Pediatrics, Creighton University Health Sciences Center, Omaha, NE
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various extracts from berries, with and without clarithromycin on Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori American type culture collection (ATCC) strain 49503 was grown, cell suspensions were made in PBS and diluted 10-fold. One hundred microL of the suspension was then incubated for 18 h with extracts of raspberry, strawberry, cranberry, elderberry, blueberry, bilberry, and OptiBerry, a blend of the six berries, at 0.25-1% concentrations. Serially diluted cell suspensions were exposed for 1 h to clarithromycin at 15 microg/ml. All extracts from berries significantly inhibited H. pylori compared with controls.

Cranberries info
Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are native to North America. Cran berries are commonly found growing in acidic bogs. Cran berries are related to bil berries and blue berries and have a tart taste. Cranberries are often and successfully used to treat urinary infections and disorders. They also benefit the cardiovascular and immune systems. Cran berries may have the ability to help protect brain cells from free radical damage. Cran berries contain proanthocyanidins and tannins, which are helpful in preventing bacteria from attaching to the walls of the urinary system. Cranberries are full of nutrients like polyphenol antioxidants, flavonoids, phytonutrients and other natural compounds. Cranberries also contain significant concentrations of benzoic acid. They are a great source of anthocyanins and phytochemicals and are also high in Vitamin C.

Questions on berries and berry supplements
Q. The benefits of antioxidant fruits and berries such as blueberries has been known for some time. Just recently we heard that blueberries have been found to be beneficial in regenerating brain cells, and may help fight Alzheimer's disease. Would you suggest taking blueberry extract for someone who has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's?
   A. All berries have great antioxidant benefits. Perhaps blueberry supplements may be helpful in lowering the risk for Alzheimer's disease and perhaps slowing the cognitive decline. There are many plant extracts and supplements that could be beneficial for Alzheimer's disease and it is difficult to know how many to take and what dosage is appropriate.

Açaí Euterpe oleracea
Blackberry Rubus ursinus
Black raspberry Rubus occidentalis
Blackcurrant Ribes nigrum
Blueberry Vaccinium spp.
Cranberry Vaccinium spp.
Goji Lycium barbarum
Grape Vitis spp.
Red raspberry Rubus idaeus
Sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides
Strawberry Fragaria spp.
 

natal plum