After last week’s e-Alerts about Alzheimer’s, Ritalin, and stroke, I was ready for something a little lighter and thought you probably were, too. As the temperature dances back and forth between 50 and 80 degrees on the East Coast, some days it’s hard to remember that summer is coming. But it is. And looking forward to summertime, warm weather, and late dinners in the back yard, I thought this might be a good moment to stop and linger over some summer fruits that, besides being refreshing and delicious, according to new research, also offer us substantial health benefits.
The way of the Samurai
As legend has it, umeboshi – or Japanese plum – once saved the lives of a unit of Samurai warriors who were dying of thirst. The warriors discovered an umeboshi tree in the wilderness, ate the fruit, which stimulated their salivary glands and brought them back from the brink of death. This Samurai-saving plum is also reported to aid the digestive system and even cure hangovers, headaches and toothaches. I haven’t come across the studies to support those particular claims, but last month at the American Physiological Society Annual Meeting, a team from Vanderbilt University, along with a collaborator from Wakayama University in Japan, presented interesting results from their research on the extract of umeboshi, known as bainiku-ekisu.
The extraction process creates a bioactive substance called Mumefural which is thought to be the ingredient that has positive effects on cardiovascular health. Using cell culture from the thoracic aorta of rats, they tested bainiku-ekisu and confirmed a potent antioxidant activity. They concluded that bainiku-ekisu may have the ability to improve human blood fluidity and help prevent hypertension and other cardiovascular problems.
It’s important to note that while the Japanese plum is reported to have beneficial health effects, it’s the bainiku-ekisu extract of the plum that is believed to contain the heart healthy ingredients. You might have to locate a specialty food store to find bainiku-ekisu, but the positive effects on your blood flow could be well worth the effort. Or if you know of a source for it, please share it with others by posting it on the HSI Members Forum.
Three ways to increase NO
For hundreds of years in Europe and North America three red berry fruits – the bilberry, chokeberry, and the elderberry – have been used to treat many ailments, from scurvy to dysentery, as well as stomach and urinary tract problems. In fact Hippocrates, the Greek “father of medicine,” called the elderberry tree his “medicine chest.”
These three berries were the subject of four coronary vascular investigations reported by researchers from Indiana University, who also used the Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society to present their findings. Knowing that the chemical compositions of these berries have previously been shown to have powerful antioxidant qualities, the researchers prepared extracts from elderberry, chokeberry and bilberry, and used them to run a series of tests on porcine coronary arteries which they say have similar physiological characteristics to human coronary arteries.
They concluded that “reasonable” human consumption of these berries can stimulate and increase nitric oxide (NO) production, which in turn relaxes the blood vessels and improves blood flow. NO also inhibits blood clot development and helps keep blood pressure from becoming dangerously high.
As with the Japanese plum, your local grocery store may not carry elderberries, chokeberries, or bilberries, but as long as you’re making a special trip to find those plums, you may be able to pick up a supply of these three very heart healthy berries.
Black raspberry decreases tumors 80%
“There is a potentially powerful biological weapon for health — a mix of compounds suspected of thwarting colon cancer — hiding deep inside the juicy sweetness of a black raspberry. And if it can be harnessed, it could play a major role in preventing the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.”
This is the opening statement from a press release issued earlier this month by Ohio State University where researchers recently tested the cancer-fighting properties of black raspberries.
As reported in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, the OSU team injected rats with azoxymethane, a carcinogen that causes colon tumors. All of the injected rats developed lesions. At the end of the test, rats who had been fed diet supplements of black raspberries had 80% fewer malignant tumors than the control group of rats who were not fed black raspberries.
Gary Stoner, one of the co-authors of the study, and a professor of public health at Ohio State University, said, “This suggests that berries bind up a good portion of free radicals, preventing them from causing damage in the body.”
Stoner and his colleagues also ran tests to compare the antioxidant qualities of blueberries and strawberries to black raspberries. Previous studies have suggested that blueberries and strawberries have antioxidant activity greater than that of other common fruits. In the Ohio State tests the black raspberries were shown to absorb free radicals 11% better than blueberries, and a surprising 40% better than strawberries. Why? The scientists explained that the black raspberries are extremely rich in compounds, phenols, calcium, folic acid, and vitamins A, C and E – all known to have effective antioxidant qualities.
Far to go, but worth it
So what’s the common thread that ties the healthy properties of all these fruits together? If you said “antioxidants,” you may go to the head of the class. It’s the antioxidant qualities of bainiku-ekisu that improve blood fluidity; the antioxidant properties of elderberry, chokeberries and bilberries that relaxes blood vessels; and now the black raspberry, along with the scientists at Ohio State, have given us further evidence of the excellent cancer-fighting properties of antioxidants.
The availability of black raspberries, unfortunately, is similar to the Japanese plum and the three red berries: you might have to go out of your way to find them. But if you locate these nutritious and healthy natural foods, you’ll be bringing back benefits that far exceed the pleasure of a refreshing fruit salad on a summer evening. And, again, if you do locate a source, please share it with your fellow members by posting it on the HSI forum.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“A Popular Japanese Plum, Now Available in the US, May Help Prevent the Onset of Cardiac Disease” The American Physiological Society
“Four New Studies Strongly Suggest That Components From Three Types Of Red Berry Fruits Help Arteries” IntelliHealth / The American Physiological Society
“Black Raspberries Fight Colon Cancer” Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Copyright 1997-2002 by Institute of Health Sciences, L.L.C.
