Health effects of berries

Vitamins C and E

Berries and energy

Phenolic compounds

Vitamin C is the best-known antioxidant in berries. It protects the body against harmful oxidation. Vitamin C also contributes to the formation of bones and teeth, prevents fatigue and infections and improves the absorption of iron. In addition, vitamin C is essential for the formation of collagen, the main component of connective tissue.

The rose hip, sea buckthorn berry, blackcurrant, cloudberry and rowan berry are all high in vitamin C. No imported fruit has the same levels of vitamin C. The National Nutrition Council of Finland recommends a daily intake of 75 milligrams of vitamin C for people of working-age.

Vitamin E serves as an antioxidant, protecting the body against harmful oxidation. It maintains the structure of the cell membrane and protects vitamin A in the body.

Vitamin E is a generic name for vitamin E compounds. Berries have a higher content of vitamin E than fruit. The recommended daily intake is 8 milligrams for women and 10 milligrams for men.

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are energy nutrients – in other words, they produce energy for the maintenance and regulation of vital functions, the growth and renewal of tissue and the maintenance of body temperature as well as for work and exercise. The energy content of food products varies greatly. Generally, vegetables have a lower energy content than animal products.

Berries have a high water content: 80-90% of their total weight. Carbohydrates (fibre and sugars) and organic acids constitute most of the dry components. Berries are low in proteins and fats. Because of their high water and low fat content, berries produce only a little energy. Most of this energy comes from sugars.

Unabsorbable carbohydrates are called nutritional fibre. Although the body cannot break down this fibre into an absorbable form, it has many important functions in the alimentary canal. Unabsorbable fibre maintains intestinal functions, and absorbable fibre slows the emptying of the stomach, for example.

Berries contain both unabsorbable fibre and absorbable fibre, i.e. pectin. In addition to oat and vegetables, berries are the most important dietary sources of absorbable fibre. Slightly raw and recently ripened berries have the highest pectin content.

Plants produce thousands of phenolic compounds. These compounds can have beneficial effects on our vital functions, health and well-being.

Flavonoids, a group of phenolic compounds, are metabolic products that function as part of the defence system of plants. In the human body, they serve as powerful antioxidants. Flavonoids and other antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, can protect the body against the harmful effects of oxygen and the related illnesses. Flavonoids have also been proven to have many other beneficial effects on the health and functions of the body.

The most common sources of flavonoids are vegetables, fruit, berries, tea and red wine. Their flavonoid contents vary by the year, depending on such factors as environmental conditions. Most of the flavonoids in berries are anthocyanins. Anthocyanin contents are particularly high in strongly coloured berries, such as bilberries, crowberries, aronia and blackcurrants.

Anthocyanins give berries their red or blue-black colour. According to research, berries are the best dietary source of anthocyanins in Finland.

Proanthocyanins are another group of phenolic compounds. Their phenolic structure enables them to serve as antioxidants. Initial research shows that lingonberries contain rare short-chain proanthocyanins, which some studies have proven to be the component that protects against urinary tract infections.