By Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE | Source: EcoWatch
Berries are among the healthiest foods you can eat.
They’re delicious, nutritious, and provide a number of impressive health benefits.
Here are 11 good reasons to include berries in your diet.
1. Loaded With Antioxidants
Berries contain antioxidants, which help keep free radicals under control.
Free radicals are unstable molecules that are beneficial in small amounts but can damage your cells when their numbers get too high, causing oxidative stress (1).
Berries are a great source of antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid, and resveratrol. In addition to protecting your cells, these plant compounds may reduce disease risk (2, 3).
One study showed that blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries have the highest antioxidant activity of commonly consumed fruits, next to pomegranates (4).
In fact, several studies have confirmed that the antioxidants in berries may help reduce oxidative stress (5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
