In just one cup of raspberries, you can receive an excellent source of multiple nutrients, including vitamin C and fiber (3). An “excellent source” describes foods that contain “20% or more of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient” (1).
Vitamin C plays a vital role in the production and maintenance of collagen: a protein found throughout your body (1). Collagen provides “framework for bones and teeth” (1). Therefore, “it holds the body together” (1).
Without an adequate intake of this vitamin, your body can't properly hold together, and scurvy can result: a disease characterized by loose teeth, the inability for wounds to heal, bleeding gums, as well as a few other symptoms (1). Fortunately, cases are extremely rare in the United States, as many foods are fortified with the vitamin, so our diet is rich in it!
Vitamin C is also an antioxidant (1). Therefore, it decreases the effects certain molecules, such as free radials, have on our bodies (1). Free radicals, which are emitted into our air through cigarette smoke, for instance, have a negative effect on our bodies because they cause damage to certain molecules that help to form all of us (1).
They damage our DNA, which can lead to cancer.
Fiber, unlike vitamin C, is a type of complex carbohydrate. This means that it is made up of more than two sugar molecules called polysaccharides as opposed to monosaccharides (single sugar molecules) and disaccharides (two sugar molecules) (1).
Interestingly, fiber cannot be broken down and absorbed by your body—it just passes through your GI tract and exits. However, just because your body doesn’t digest and absorb it, doesn’t mean it isn’t essential.
According to the Mayo Clinic, fiber “normalizes bowel movements,” and “helps maintain bowel health,” as it adds mass to your stool, and “a bulky stool is easier to pass, decreasing your chance of constipation” (2).
Increasing your intake of fiber can also lower your cholesterol levels as well (2). Although cholesterol is vital, consumption of it is not since your liver produces an adequate supply of it (1). Therefore, cholesterol, although needed to aid cells in their formation, is not healthy when present in large quantities.
High levels of cholesterol in the blood can lead to several cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis: a disease characterized by the build up of cholesterol in the artery walls that can block the flow of blood throughout the body (1). Therefore, fiber also promotes cardiovascular health as well, and in turn, promotes heart health! (The cardiovascular system comprises of blood flow throughout our body, and your heart is dependent on a lot of blood!).
Fiber lowers your cholesterol levels because it “binds” to the cholesterol consumed in our diet, and because fiber cannot be absorbed, the cholesterol bound to it cannot as well (1).
So remember to sprinkle some raspberries on top of your cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, or even desert! Enjoy their sweet taste and nutrition.
Works Cited
1) Grosvenor, Mary B., and Lori A. Smolin. Visualizing Nutrition Everyday Choices. Second ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.
2) "Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet." Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 07 July 2014.
3) "Raspberries." The World's Healthiest Foods. The George Mateljan Foundation, 2014. Web. 7 July 2014.
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