1/18/2012

Berries + Fruits

Food combination:
Berries and fruits
Effect:
Synergistic cancer preventing effects by phytochemicals.
Background:
A study from Cornell University showed preliminary evidence that combining fruits and berries together will create synergistic cancer preventing effects. On the other hand, isolated consumption of antioxidants - which are commonly known for their cancer protecting qualities - might not lower the risk of cancer after all if the nutrients are removed from their original chemical context. It seems like the antioxidants will only be bio-active if they come in combination with other phytochemicals yet to be discovered. This is what led the research group to support the idea of food synergy and consuming whole foods. The researchers recommend eating various berries and fruits together instead of consuming only one sort, such as blueberries which are known for their superb health effects. You will still benefit more if you complement blueberries with oranges or other fruits or consume strawberries with apples etc.

Another, more limited lab experiment found some synergistic effects between flavoinoids and epirubicin against cancer cells. Heaps of flavonoids are present in fruits and berries so mixing them would seem like the easiest way to create optimal health effects. The study in itself was very limited and it's impossible to evaluate wheather the results would apply to people as well. Most likely there are synergies between flavonoids but the magnitude of such synergies is hard to estimate. I would simply recommend following your animal instict that tells you that eating lots of berries fruits together is tastes good and is good for you.

These findings confirm something that children have known all along - eating fruits in a tasty fruit salad is simply a great dessert. For a wonderful fruit salad, put together some grapes, pineapple, apples, bananas, kiwi and blueberries. This is an incredible combination of vitamins and thousands of bio-active phytochemicals that science is yet to discover, all working in your body like a symphony of nutrients.

How would you combine fruits and berries?

Further readings:
http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/Volume14/vol14.2/fullArticles/Vattem.pdf
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/healthy-food-combinations/Blueberries_Grapes.php

Photos (cc):
Orange by The Ewan, blueberries by brx0

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