10 Health Benefits of Blackberries
Blackberries are one of the reasons that summer is one of the best seasons around. These delightfully dark, nutrient-packed berries flourish during the later months of summer, and many people enjoy going on expeditions to harvest them to have an adventure, improve their health, and even make money. Berries are generally a good source of nutrients, and blackberries are no exception. They contain an impressive number of phytonutrients – plant-based nutrients – that can improve many aspects of our health. In addition to that, despite being very sweet, they are relatively low in calories.
The best way to experience the wonders of blackberries is to pick them yourself. However, if they don’t grow in your area, you can certainly find them at your local grocery store. They may be hard to find out-of-season in some areas, but at least during summer you’ll have something to look forward to.
There are a number of health benefits that can be attributed to eating blackberries. Naturally, these benefits will be more apparent if you eat your blackberries in addition to following a normal, healthy diet. However, they are known to help offset the symptoms of certain illnesses, fight inflammation, and improve wellbeing on their own. Here are the most common health benefits that one might expect to experience when consuming blackberries on a regular basis.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #1: Enhancing Immunity
Blackberries can enhance the body’s immune system in a number of ways. They contain a lot of antioxidants that can help reduce stress from the body’s systems, and they contain a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that are important for improving immunity.
One of the most important ways that they can boost immunity is by providing us with a lot of vitamin C. One cup of blackberries will provide us with 30.2 mg of vitamin C, which is roughly half of our daily recommended dose. Vitamin C is heavily involved in the immune system, which is why it’s often touted as a remedy for the common cold.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #2: Enhancing Skin Health
Another impressive benefit of the high vitamin C content found in blackberries is the way that it can help to enhance the health and appearance of our skin. Vitamin C is heavily involved in the production of collagen, which is the most abundant protein found in the human body. Collagen is what gives our skin its strength and elasticity, and it also contributes to its appearance.
Without collagen, our skin is prone to blemishing and developing visible signs of aging. Since vitamin C is an antioxidant, it also helps to prevent the oxidation of the skin which can lead to wrinkles and liver spots.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #3: Helps Fight Anemia
Anemia is a condition in which a person has a hard time absorbing iron. Iron is important for many of our bodily functions, and it’s vital for the flow of our blood. If we can’t absorb iron, our body will have a hard time transporting oxygen and other nutrients to our tissues and organs. This can lead to innumerable health problems.
Fortunately, vitamin C has been shown to help improve the absorption of iron. By doing this, blackberries can help to ensure that we’re able to absorb the iron that we need to live happy and healthy lives.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #4: Helps Detoxify the Body
Blackberries are quite high in fibre, which is important because many people living in the West don’t get as much fibre as we need. Fibre is important for a lot of functions in our body.
One of the most important things that fibre does is help us get rid of bile. Bile is a substance that’s produced by the pancreas that absorbs toxic compounds in our body for excretion. Bile is most easily excreted with the help of fibre, because it likes to stick to fibre before being passed out of the body.
Without enough fibre, our bile will just be reabsorbed into the liver. It will become more and more toxic with every reabsorption which can lead to many problems.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #5: Keeps You Regular
If you experience frequent constipation, then it’s possible that you might not be getting enough fibre. Fibre is important to help keep our stools regular.
Fibre is interesting because it can help prevent constipation, by adding moisture to the stool, and also help prevent diarrhea, by bulking up the stool. One of the first places to look when you’re suffering from problems staying regular is your fibre intake.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #6: Enhances Bone Health
Blackberries contain a significant amount of vitamin K, which is one of the most important nutrients to help maintain the health of our bones and joints. Deficiencies in vitamin K have been linked to bone problems: bones will thin out and grow brittle quicker.
The vitamin C in blackberries also helps your body produce collagen, an important protein involved in the maintenance of our bones.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #7: Enhances Cognitive Health
Berries have been known for quite some time to help enhance our cognitive abilities. While blueberries are most commonly touted for this ability, blackberries can do the same.
Reviews of research done on various berries, including blackberries, have revealed that the mixture of antioxidants and phytonutrients found in these berries can help to disarm free radicals. Free radicals are the by-products of oxidation which can lead to cognitive impairment and other health problems.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #8: Improves Dental Health
Research has indicated that extracts made from the blackberry plant can actually be useful to help to fight and prevent bacterial infections that are associated with gum disease and other oral health problems.
In this case, the extract may be more beneficial than the berry itself due to the high sugar content.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #9: Helps Manage Blood Sugar
There are several nutrients found in the blackberry that can be useful to help people manage their blood sugar. Of these, manganese is probably the most important. A cup of blackberries provides you with almost a milligram of manganese, which is nearly half of what we need to consume in a day.
Managing blood sugar is important because it helps the body retain a sensitivity to insulin. Insulin resistance can lead to the development of diabetes, a serious health problem that can lead to many complications.
Health Benefit Of Blackberries #10: Improves Wound Healing
Another thing that blackberries can do is help to enhance the speed at which our body heals wounds. There are two nutrients primarily involved in this: vitamin K and vitamin C.
Vitamin K is important because it helps to ensure that we don’t bruise or bleed as easily. Vitamin C, on the other hand, helps the body make collagen. Collagen is required to repair any physical damage done to our flesh or muscles.
