Drinking a daily fresh berry juice is of great benefit to our health. Fresh from the juicing machine, berry juice recipes are brimming with nutrients like antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are all wonderfully nutritious and easy to come by when they are in season. Right here in N.America they may even grow in your back yard!

All berries are a good source of vitamin C; the multi-faceted nutrient that provides many health benefits and necessary functions. Vitamin C supports healthy skin by helping to create collagen and also protecting the skin from free radicals in air pollution. Vitamin C is an essential part of a healthy immune system and is needed to create over half of our white blood cell antibodies. This helps protect us from viruses like colds and flu. Vitamin C is also a potent antioxidant and is very effective at protecting our arteries from free radical damage that causes inflammation that can lead to arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

Berries and especially blackberries and blueberries are a great source of antioxidants called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins, just like vitamin C help protect our arteries from free radical induced inflammation. Anthocyanins have the added benefit of helping to create stronger and more structurally sound blood vessels. This improves the quality of our arteries and therefore helps reduce our risk of developing heart disease. Hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers and varicose veins may also benefit from the blood vessel strengthening abilities of anthocyanins.

Ellagic acid is another antioxidant common to berries. Although present in all berries, ellagic acid is more abundant in red colored berries like strawberries and raspberries. Test tube research has shown that ellagic acid is an extremely powerful anti-cancer agent. There is also strong evidence in real life for this benefit too. A study in Massachusetts analysed the diets of over 1000 elderly people. Researchers found that those who ate the most ellagic acid containing foods like strawberries where two thirds less likely to die of cancer than those who ate the least or no strawberries.

To get the most health benefits out of your berry juice recipes ensure that you buy fresh berries and that you juice them within several days of purchase. Another tip is to not leave the berry juice sitting around after juicing. The berry juice will start to oxidize and the nutrients will begin to die off. So drinking the juice right away is the optimum choice!