Blueberries: Balls of Fury!

When I get sick, my imagination runs wild. A side effect of going to college and studying the inner workings of the body, I can see the little viruses or bacteria infiltrate my system (maybe while my immune army was busy fighting off the glass of wine the other night?). They wear 1930's clothing, carry machine guns, and somehow Al Capone (played by Robert De Niro) is in there somewhere. These untouchables are not in their element. They are in a foreign land, and are no match for my immune system, brimming with cells that neutralize, fight, destroy, and dispose of sleaze balls like these.

But sometimes our body runs out of the raw resources needed, and we fall prey to a bout of the flu, or maybe even over time we yield to the most compromising immune deficiency of all, cancer. In the U.S., an estimated 25–50 million cases of the flu are currently reported each year — leading to 150,000 hospitalizations and 30,000–40,000 deaths yearly. And cancer takes 500,000. It appears as though these renegade cells or viruses are winning!

Lucky for us nature has designed foods that, when ingested, give the body the fire power needed to combat these imbalances. Plants! And one of the most popular and widely studied super hero for boosting immune capacity in the plant kingdom just became available this May!

Blueberries!

Blue, round, succulent, sweet, and dense, they are like little balls of fury against foreign invaders and domestic terrorists (like cancer). They contain powerful antioxidants that not only strengthen the immune system and combat the criminals of the body, but also improve the integrity collagen in your tissue, skin, and cardiovascular system. They promote brain health, regular elimination, and have compounds within them that seem to be specialized soldiers. Ellagic acid, for instance, blocks metabolic pathways that allow cancer. Resveratrol (that came along with that glass of wine, and the gift of a hangover) can prevent cancer and heart disease.

This summer, make sure to increase your antioxidant capacity with blueberries. They satisfy that sweet tooth, and only pop 81 calories for one cup! Here are some tips for enjoying them:

• Straight out of the Organic carton (rinse them with water first) for a snack!
• Sprinkled on your morning cereal or yogurt. 
• Freeze them and pop them in your mouth as a yummy dessert.
• Put them in a almond milk smoothie, with banana, hemp protein, and some fresh pineapple.
• Blueberries with Maple-Cashew Drizzle
• Maple-Cashew Drizzle Recipe
• 1 Cup Raw Cashews
• 1/2 Cup Almond Milk
• 1 Tbs. Maple Syrup or Honey
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Blend the above ingredients together in a food processor or blender. Drizzle on top of a pint of blueberries. 2 Servings.