No sooner have we grasped the health-protecting, skin-boosting, brain-empowering properties of one super berry than along comes another one, with seemingly superior “supernutrient” virtues.

And yet, to date, much of the research that “reveals” their potential benefits has been carried out in laboratories and on animals, so their real benefits are just that, potential.

“It is possible to show charts and quote figures that reveal, for example, either blueberries or blackcurrants to have more supernutrients simply by testing a specific variety,” says Stephen Taylor, a leading berry grower. “This is confusing and potentially misleading.” So just exactly what can various berries really do for us? What we do know for sure is that berries share some universal nutritional properties.

They are low in calories. You can munch your way through a 200g bowl of strawberries for just 54 calories and the same size bowl of raspberries for 50. All are great too for vitamin C which we know is vital for immunity, the quality of our skin and our ability to absorb iron, needed for energy, from many foods.

Strawberries and raspberries give us more vitamin C than blackberries but less than blackcurrants. But all are very useful for this multifunctional nutrient, as well as for fibre and blood pressure-balancing potassium. So if you’re served gooseberries, mulberries, bilberries or red-currants, then tuck in with gusto.

The fact that we may also derive added benefits from particular varieties should be seen as an added bonus rather than a reason to stick to one to the exclusion of others.

Berries often feature in folklore and usually there is some science to back it up. For example, RAF pilots were given bilberry jam in the Second World War to improve night vision. We now know this is probably down to the deep blue pigments of these berries which help human beings to make “visual purple”, needed to see in dim light, while also strengthening tiny blood vessels in the eyes to improve circulation.

Native Americans and Nordic peoples have a long tradition of using berries to treat diarrhoea. It seems, from laboratory experiments, that certain so-called polyphenol compounds in berries do inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria found in our digestive systems.

Salmonella and staphylococcus, common food-poisoning bacteria, are especially sensitive to extracts from raspberries, while raspberry and strawberry extracts appear to fight candida and Campylobacter jejuni (the most frequent cause of diarrhoea in Britain).

Nordic folklore prescribes how to fight urinary-tract infections with cranberries, and, again, there is research to prove the point. As Dr Amy Howell, a nutrition researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says: “Scientists have proven that supernutrients in cranberries can physically stop bacteria which cause urinary-tract infections, stomach ulcers and even tooth decay.

“Regularly drinking 250ml of cranberry juice morning and night can cut the risk of these common and sometimes devastating infections. I’ve seen studies in China where this amount of juice actually cures 15 to 20 per cent of stomach ulcer cases. I’m amazed that a food can do this.”

So when aiming for your five-a-day fruit and vegetables, then a few servings of berries could indeed be a smart nutritional move so long as you keep a sense of perspective.

www.amandaursell.com

Truth or hype?

Blueberries make you brainier:
Laboratory studies at Tufts University in Massachusetts suggest that blueberry-rich diets fed to mice affect mechanisms involved in memory and learning. It is possible that supernutrients in blueberries and strawberries do improve signals between nerves in the brain.

Raspberries keep you slim:
Laboratory work at the University of Chubu in Japan indicates that colourful red pigments particularly found in raspberries appear to modulate the way that fat cells take up and release fatty contents. Feeding mice on high-fat diets lots of these pigments appears to suppress development of obesity. More research needed.

Strawberries reduce heart disease:
Work at Glasgow University on human beings shows that those eating 200g of strawberries daily helped to protect their arteries from the early development of fatty streaks on their arteries known as atherosclerosis. This may reduce the risk of furred arteries and future heart disease.

Berries are anti-ageing:
In the broadest sense, this is true. When you look at all the potential benefits of the combined nutrients and supernutrients, fibre and their implicitly low calorie count, then regularly eating a variety of berries probably will have antiageing effects.

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