Health Benefits of Blackberries and Best Berry Ice Cream Recipe

You may notice at the supermarket that blackberries, red raspberries, black raspberries, and blueberries are sold in smaller containers than strawberries. In addition, these 4 oz., 6-oz and 8-oz. containers are more expensive than the 1-pound containers of strawberries sold in the same stores. There must be a reason for the difference.

The more expensive berries must be either more valuable than strawberries, or harder to culivate and harvest, or grown farther away and more difficult to transport - or all three.

The cheapest good tasting berry I ever found was the mulberry. I found enough mulbeerries on bushes outside my apartment one year to make two pies. They were delicious.

The Ohio State University and Oregon State University provide information about a variety of foods through their community extension programs. A number of additional universities and colleges provide this type of information as well. It can also be found in flyers and newsletters at stores such as Whole Foods. For example, the nutritional contents of one cup of blackberries is found below.

The blackberry is a nutriceutical food, as is the blueberry. This means that the food is not only nutritious, but has some medicinal properties as well, especially preventive properties in fighting diseases.

The Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere became very good at determining these medicinal and nutritional qualities. Today, we can just pick up a fact sheet at a grocery store!

A full cup of fresh blackberries also contains about 1 mg Iron, 29 mg Magnesium, 233 mg Potassium, 0.76 mg Zinc, 0.6 mcg Selenium, about 1 mg Niacin, and significant levels of Vitamins A, E, and K.

• Evergreen
• Waldo - From crosses between Marionberries and others.
• Chester
• Kotata - Derived from Boysenberries
• Loganberry - A cross between blackbaerries and red raspberries.
• Silvan - From a cross between a blackberry in Corvalis and one in Australia.
• Obsidian - Yes, this one is really very black.
• And many others!

• The blackberry and related berries offer the highest antioxidant levels of all the fresh fruits.
• The antioxidents in blue, purple (black), and red fruits fight cancers, urinary diesase, memory loss, and the bad things that happen during aging. The coloring pigment in these berries is a phytochemical that is the antioxidant, which protects the human body's cells from changes that lead to cancers.
• Blackberries and other fruits contain vitamin C, which is also a powerful antioxidant. One cup of fresh blackberries contains over 30 mg of the vitamin!
• Gallic acid present in blackberries fights cell death and the spread of cancerous cells in prostrate cancer.
• Ellagic acid in blackberries is a miracle! It is not only an antioxidant, but also an anti-viral and an anti-bacterial. It can prevent some forms of cancers and may even be able to reverse some tumors.
• Some species of blackberries, like the Evergreen blackberry, offer high levels of the flavonol known as chatechin. This substance boosts the immune system by boosting antioxident actions already in order. Another powerful substance contained is Quercetin, which is useful in figthing cardiac and cancer conditions. Another substance present is Rutin, a bioflavonoid that is an anti-imflammatory that helps keep blood vessels healthy (we hear more about inflammation in the body these days).
• Aspirin, anyone? Blackberries and other berries contains an element similar to aspirin: salicylic acid. Consuming blackberries may be as good for older adults as taking a baby aspirin every day for heart and vascular health.
• The dietary fiber found in blackberries also fights cancers, especially colon cancers. However, it is also useful in combatting "bad" cholesterol and maintaining a healthy digestive tract from esophagus to colon.
• Combining antioxidants with fiber, as blackberries do, boosts immune power and health properties several times over. In fact, three cups of these berries yields almost 100% of the daily fiber intake needed for human adults and consuming that amount icnreases the power of the antioxidant activity potential. This is all measured by the ORAC or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity - the higher the schoore, the stronger the food in fighting diease via antioxidants. Blackberries produce some of the ORAC highest scores and these high schools suggest the usefulness of the substances within blackberries in slowing the huan aging process.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cups whole milk
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 1/4 Cup fat-free powdered milk
• 8 egg yolks only - use the whites for breakfast.
• 1 Cup heavy whipping cream or half-and-half (I like the half-and-half)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 Cups fresh seedless blackberries, leaves removed and rinsed
• Ice Cream Maker with a gel bowl, or other type of you have it.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Put ice cream maker gel bowl in the freezer the day before, or follow the instructions for your own ice cream maker.
• In a large pot, pour in the milk, sugar and powdered milk and milk well.
• Bring the pot to Low Simmer over Medium heat and keep stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Turn heat to Lowest Setting to keep warm.
• Whip egg yolks until thick.
• While stirring, stir in 1 Cup of the hot mixture from the warming pot (keeps eggs from scrambling!)
• Now pour the egg mixture into the waring pot and keep stirring. raise heat to Medium and stir until temperature reaches 170 - 180 F.
• Stir in whipping cream and vanilla, stir, remove from heat, cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.
• Smash a little byhand or puree the berries in the blender (I like the smashed chunks), stir into cold ice cream mixture, spoon ice cream into ice cream maker and run for 25 minutes or follow your own directions. Freeze for a couple of hours if you like firmer textures.
• Enjoy blackberry ice cream!