Have you had a drive around this area to seen all the Saskatoon bushes in bloom? Beautiful? We will have to wait awhile for the berries to be ready for all of us and the bears. Worth waiting for when you know of the nutritional value of those little power house bites with anti- aging properties. Loaded with antioxidants and vitamins. Low in calories to boot.
As a seasonal substitute you can buy blueberries. The B.C. berries have been a bit late this year but frozen will do in a pinch. Blueberries are called the “Miracle Berry that keeps you young.”
The benefits of eating blueberries every day will amaze you. Since cancer invaded our life I am always looking for something that says yup, we can help. So it is with the little blueberries. Studies on old rats showed a reduction in the size of tumours. The old rat around here is getting his blueberries.
Another good benefit is the chance it might reverse memory loss. It could help you have better physical coordination and balance.
If that doesn’t interest you it does say it could reduce bad cholesterol. It will also help prevent urinary tract infections.
The thing that surprised me was that if you ate only half a cup of berries a day you are getting double the amount of antioxidants most adults get.
As I was looking up the information about blueberries I came across information about a relative of the power house fruit. This time it was centred on bilberry. Now, this one we do not get fresh but we can get it as a pill supplement. The interesting thing about this little fellow is that it helps prevent age related issues of the eyes. It could help slow down macular degeneration and cataracts. Another big thing for many of us is that it could help with night blindness issues. In fact during war time fighter pilots ate some form of bilberry so they could see better on night time raids. Don’t need to do the raid part. Worth looking at?You bet! Of course as usual you should check with your health care provider to see if it will not muck up other medications you are taking.
So there you have it. Warm days are here. Have a cup of blueberries. Throw them in your cereal, make a smoothie, add to muffins or just eat plain.What have you got to lose? Well, for one thing you could lose some sight or just plain not get all the benefits you can get for a more youthful aging process.
Thanks to Karen who called 250-846-5095 with this topic suggestion. You could e-mail note to mallory@bulkley.net.
Brenda Mallory writes the weekly Spice of Life column.