Today the Power Foods blog group takes a look at berries. As a food group, berries are great for you. Berries contain anthocyanins, which help to reduce inflammation, and may help to prevent cancer. My favorite berry, the blueberry, provides more antioxidants than many other fruits. Blueberries rank low in on the glycemic index (GI) so they are a good fruit for people with type 2 diabetes. These berries also support memory, and they have cardiovascular and blood pressure benefits as well.

Don’t wash your blueberries when you bring them home from the market. Washing them will only make them spoil earlier. Wash before you plan on eating them. If you plan on freezing your fresh berries, then wash them, pat them dry, separate them out on a flat pan, and then flash freeze them for an hour. Once they are three-quarters frozen you can place them in a bag and return them to the freezer. By flash freezing before you put them in a bag, they will not freeze together and clump up.

Blueberry Smoothie

I sometimes make the blueberry smoothie without banana and then just add a drop of sweetener, but banana helps to sweeten the drink and make it more filling. It’s a great drink for my healthy eating habits!

• ½ small banana (optional)
• ½ cup blueberries
• ½ cup soy milk
• ½ teaspoon real vanilla extract
• ½ cup ice

1. Place the ingredients in a blender and process until it is smooth and homogeneous.