Health Benefits of Berries in the Mediterranean Diet

What a glorious category of fruit! Berries are colorful, fun to eat, juicy, delicious, even fun to pick. They are perfect for cooking or eating raw. Freeze them for an icy treat, bake them into bread, or pop them one after another for a snack. Berries are delicate and they don’t last long, so buy them, rinse them, and eat them immediately—and often.

Berries are beloved in the Mediterranean. Fragrant wild strawberries are a much-anticipated component of produce markets in Italy, and although the strawberries cultivated in the United States are somewhat different, the spirit remains the same.

Blueberries, cultivated in North America, make a lovely Mediterranean-type dessert and are reminiscent of their cousins the lingonberries, the blueberry’s European (and Mediterranean) equivalent. Plump, juicy blackberries, tangy raspberries, tart, globe-shaped gooseberries, and the all-American cranberry are other delicious choices. (Cran­berries are too tart to eat raw for most people, but they are wonderful cooked into recipes.)

The vibrant colors of berries are a giveaway that these juicy fruits, perfect for snacking, are loaded with cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Flavonoids make blackberries purple-black, blueberries deep blue, and strawberries and raspberries rosy red. Berries are also full of vitamin C, fiber, and folate, all cancer fighters, too. In fact, in the fight against cancer, few foods are more powerful than berries.

Unlike some fruits, berries will last only a day or two in your refrigerator, and a little mold on one berry can trans­form the whole bowlful into a moldy mess overnight. Even berries untouched by the mold can take on an unpleasant taste. The best choice is to pick your own berries or buy them from a local produce stand or farmer’s market.

Alternatively, berries from the supermarket can be stored layered between paper towels, and lightly rinsed just before serving. Blueberries last slightly longer than other types, such as strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Firmer and best used in cooking, cranberries are the exception. They keep well in the refrigerator and will keep for months in the freezer. When you can’t find them fresh, frozen berries are similarly high in nutrients.