Cranberry and Raspberry Love

I’ve fallen in love with a few culinary cuties lately: Cranberries and Raspberries.  The little tarts have me wrapped around their litttle orbits.

Cranberries

Cranberries, come to find out, are actually very good for us.  Apparenty they’re packed with antioxidant polyphenols, which promote healthy blood flow.  University of Wisconsin-Madison experts tested cranberries on pigs, because their blood vessels are similar to ours.   They had been bred to develop constricted arteries (the pigs, not the experts). After 6 months, the blood vessels of the pigs who were fed cranberries were as stretchy and normal as those of normal pigs.

Cranberries up your polyphenol intake with chocolate, strawberries, pomegranates, and black and green teas.

Cranberries also have a rep for preventing bladder infections - nasty, nasty things those bladder infections.

Raspberries

The other cutie I’ve become smitten with is raspberries.  I never even used to pretend to like raspberries or raspberry flavored anything - but Starbucks recently featured a raspberry-flavored coffee that got me hooked.  I’ve even started asking them to put raspberry syrup on top of my Green Tea Frap.  I’ve, now, officially given myself a craving…or as we’re apt to say in Kentucky, a “hankering.”  

Lab studies have also shown Raspberries to have strong anti-cancer properties and antioxidants.

Next time you’re at the store, load up on berries!

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