Summer has finally arrived, and that means it’s berry season. Not only are berries delicious, most are exceptionally good for you, each with its own nutritional benefits that make them a food you should include in your diet all year long.
Raspberry
Raspberries are not only one of our most favored flavors; they’re also one of the best functional foods you can eat. Raspberries contain ellagic acid, which is a powerful plant antioxidant. In the plants, this biochemical helps to regulate growth and seed germination, protects them from microbial infections and heavy metal poisoning and prevents insects from eating them. However, more and more research is pointing to ellagic acid in these tasty fruits as a potent, natural weapon against cancer in humans.
How Does Ellagic Acid Fight Cancer?
Ellagic acid stimulates activities of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens. Plus, ellagic acid is anti-mutagenic, antibacterial and anti-viral as well as anti-carcinogenic!
Ellagic acid:
· Acts as a scavenger that “binds” to cancer-causing chemicals and inactivates them
· Inhibits the ability of chemicals to cause dangerous mutations in bacteria
· Prevents cancer-causing substances from binding to DNA
· Reduces cancer in cultured human cells that have been exposed to carcinogens
· Promotes apoptosis, or cell death, of cancer cells without harming healthy cells, a process that may be beneficial in fighting prostate, breast, lung, esophageal and skin cancers
And, previous animal tests showed that eating large amounts of raspberries could fight esophageal and colon cancers.
Research at the Hollings Cancer Center the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has also found powerful cancer-fighting potential from ellagic acid. According to their studies, ellagic acid slows the growth of abnormal colon cells in humans and prevents cells infected with human papillomavirus (HPV), which is linked to cervical cancer, from developing.
Ellagic acid is not just good for fighting cancer. Studies have found that it may also fight heart disease, reduce the risk of birth defects and speed wound healing.
Ellagic acid also:
· Fights the H. pylori bacteria that’s linked to stomach ulcers
· Protects the liver and liver function
· Helps to reduce glucose levels, which can help keep diabetes under control
Furthermore, just-released research from the University Of South Florida College Of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that eating certain antioxidant-rich foods like raspberries may also limit the damage done by strokes and other neurological disorders.
Where is Ellagic Acid Found?
Raspberries are by far the richest source of ellagic acid known by researchers to date. However, it appears that strawberries, pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, pecans and walnuts may also contain some, although in smaller amounts.
