What is the one fruit you need to add to your diet this season?
The pick this summer is the almighty blueberry! By the way, if you are on the Cape, we abound in wild blueberries, so slap on some bug repellent and go out and pick your own.
Small in size and blue in color (natch!), blueberries pack a nutritional wallop not easily filled by other foods. Often overlooked and overshadowed by more exotic types of berries, blueberries remain one of the most nutritious, antioxidant-rich types of fruit in the world. They have been shown to do everything from enhance brain health to keep your heart strong.
The fiber, potassium, folate, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and phytonutrient content in blueberries support heart health. The natural absence of cholesterol in blueberries is also beneficial to the heart. Fiber content helps to reduce the total amount of cholesterol in the blood and decrease the risk of heart disease.
These berries are helpful in cancer prevention and reduction of inflammation. Not only that, they weigh in at a minuscule 84 calories a cup, so have two cups!
Denise’s
2 Cents:
Sometimes you will see fruits & vegetables in charts, broken down by nutritional impact, as well as color.
One thing to remember is that different color whole foods really do bring you different vitamins and mineral.
So vary your food colors in your meals & snacks. Blue, red, orange, yellow, green, purple, they all count!
Aside from these nutrition suggestions, if you choose to get outside and pick blueberries for yourself—double stars for you! Do you remember the joy of picking blueberries on some sunny hill, way back when, and eating more than you picked?
Nothing to stop you this summer!