Raspberries Are Healthy Pt 1 and Fruit Bites

Raspberries Are Healthy Pt 1 and Fruit Bites

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. More research to back up claims of the health benefits of foods loaded with anti-oxidants like red raspberries.

Oregon State University researcher Neil Shay says they've been testing mice to see how much raspberries impact things like weight gain ...

SHAY ... "These mice are quite interesting because if you just feed them a regular mouse-chow diet, it's low fat, about 10% fat, and the mice eat normally and maintain a normal body weight throughout their lifespan, but if you give these same mice a high-fat diet they tend to over-consume and they become obese and start to get diabetes and fatty liver disease."

Shay says puts raspberries in the category with other 'power foods' that have been shown, even in small doses, to improve metabolism ...

SHAY ... "But, I would say even if you're a raspberry grower, it's hard to eat raspberries every single day. You're going to get tired of them. So, what we'd like is just give people advice on what are some of the foods that you should include into your diet, but yeah one serving of red raspberries, one cup is very healthy, 64 calories and relatively low in sugar, has 8 grams of fiber and 5 ½ grams of sugar. That's a pretty good balance there."

Shay says raspberries also pack a wallop when it comes to dietary fiber with 8 grams in a one cup serving, equivalent to 32% of our daily fiber needs.

Listen tomorrow for more on the power-house raspberry research at OSU and who the studies could benefit most.

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BL: Welcome back to another "Fruit Bites" brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent's Allison Walston. And this week Allison, I understand you had an encounter with a rather famous cat?

AW: I met Dr. Universe at an entomology meeting last week.

BL: Dr. Universe? Is that the cat scientist who answers science questions from curious kids?

AW: Yes! Well, actually I met the human, Rachel Webber, who is the science writer for Dr. Universe the cat.

BL: So, anybody can submit questions and Dr Universe will answer?

AW: mostly questions from kids and she gets a lot of insect questions. Dr. Universe answers and relates to current research being conducted by scientists at Washington State University.

BL: And, I see on the askDrUniverse.wsu.edu website, there's a question about grasshoppers and how they survive winter.

AW: There is even one about how bees make honey. So, each week a new question is answered and you can sign up for the email newsletter. This is a great way to encourage kids to ask, think and learn about science.

BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I'm Bob Larson.

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