Eat Your Berries: Are You Getting Enough Antioxidants?

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Smoothie bowls are a great way to liven up your smoothie routine. Besides adding more flavors, textures, and fiber, one of the best reasons to make them is to entice and motivate picky eaters to eat their fruits and vegetables.

But whether I make a smoothie bowl or drink it, this smoothie has become my morning fix that I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. It's not only loaded with smooth tangy flavor, it's packed with antioxidants. If you know anything about free radicals and the benefits of berries for health, you would probably want to include them in your daily regime too.

Berries contain many times more antioxidants than other fruits or vegetables. Antioxidants are important because they help shield our cells from oxidation. Oxidation occurs when our cells naturally metabolize the oxygen we breathe into the energy we need, which produces waste known as free radicals. But it's not just breathing such as when we exercise that can create excess free radicals. Environmental pollution, electropollution, prescription drugs, smoking, stress, and bad food choices can create them as well.

How many antioxidants do we need each day anyway? It depends on your lifestyle but most people living in this highly toxic modern world should get at least 8-11,000 ORAC units per day according to NutritionFacts.org. Even if you eat lots of fruits and vegetables, well above the recommended servings of just 5, you could still be deficient in antioxidants. This is why including higher quality fruits and vegetables such as wild blueberries every day could help, especially when we are sick, injured, stressed, or tired.

Did you know that wild blueberries have double the benefits of regular blueberries? However, Aronia berries, otherwise known as chokeberries, take the spotlight. They are the antioxidant superstars and are at the top of the ORAC value list for all fruits. ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, which measures an antioxidant's power to neutralize free radicals. (see graph below)

Wild Berry Super Smoothie Bowl

Smoothie Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries

• 1 tablespoon Aronia berry powder

• 1/2 cup strawberries, 2 bananas

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

  
  

Blend 30 seconds using a high speed blender until very smooth.

Smoothie Bowl Toppings: Sliced bananas, strawberries, kiwis, chia seeds, and a few bits of roasted cashews.

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written by Lupita Ronquillo for Vegan Health and Yoga

References for Berries:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/benefits-of-blueberries-for-the-brain/

http://aroniaberrynews.com/

https://www.superberries.com/health-benefits

https://www.wildblueberries.com/the-better-blueberry/