Saturday, September 1, 2012

Blueberries

I was inspired to look into blueberries further after multiple encounters over the past week. Though I have actually had a long, albeit intermittent, relationship with the fruit. I'm sure my first encounter was around Atticus' age, but my youngest memory when the blue spheres are prominent evokes endless rows of bush and cool summer mornings in Oregon picking the little buggers till your hands gained a hue that would not come off for a week. Unfortunately for me, the next weekend was the next time to pick blueberries. Fourteen and things were grand.

Atticus mashes blueberries into his face (see below) and elsewhere on a pretty regular basis. The market was selling sausage with blueberries, and they were on sale like mad this week - I think end of season. Anyway, further investigation was warranted... 


As usual I went towards the health bent on the food. Turns out these little buggers have resveratrol in them - the compound thought to be behind the reason drinking is good for you!* They also have a pretty much worldwide distribution, but as with many things - the tomato most famously, most of the versions out there are disappearing since the most easily cultivated and transportable is being exported and grown all over.

Animal studies have shown some benefit in neuroprotection in stroke models, and there is some benefit in blood pressure regulation as well. Cool stuff. The mechanism may have something to do with polyphenols - little compounds termed "anti-nutrients" because they block absorption of nutrients and make the compound less digestible and are thus plants' defense against us! Anyway, these polyphenols may have a range of health benefits as well. But from a review, my favorite quote that just reveals how sick the medical machine has become (in my opinion): "Therefore, blueberry polyphenols could become useful pharmacological agents for various conditions including neurological diseases, but further studies are still necessary to attain this objective."

*as long as it's red wine, not too much, certain types of red wine etc

Also, menu for the week:
Linguini alla arrabiata with roasted carrots, garlic bread
Spicy tilapia tacos with daikon-jalapeno slaw
Champ, sausage, brussels
Lemon-garlic grilled salmon with mushroom, onion, peppers and rice


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