[Villages PL]

Delicious healthful blackberries can now be picked locally. It's fun to pick your own, you can save a little money over the store price, and it's nature's supper food.

Blackberries are high in the following:

Vitamin C (just 2 cups of fresh berries will give you your recommended daily allowance (RDA)

Fiber (pectin is good for those who have high cholesterol)

Phytochemicals (ellagic acid is anti-cancer)

Anti-oxidative action helps to control free radicals

In summary, it protects your heart and protects against cancer.

Yesterday, May 30, The Daily Sun couldn't wait to teach people how to cancel-out or destroy all of the above health benefits. They published, in the Lifestyle section, a recipe that calls for adding regular sugar and brown sugar, white flour, butter, with ice cream topping optional. All of these ingredients are responsible for creating the conditions that blackberries are supposed to fight. To me, it doesn't make sense to take one of natures super foods and turn it into junk-food.

Evidently, The Villages Daily Sun doesn't understand what it takes to become "America's Healthiest Hometown". Or else they don't care and are playing to our baser instincts. "America's Healthiest Hometown", is in danger of becoming an empty slogan, if it's not already.

To a significant extent, aging and disease are the result of accumulated free radical induced cell damage, and the new "Health Care Centers" won't be able to reverse it.

For a healthier way of eating blackberries, try mixing them with other fresh fruit and a small sprinkling of chopped walnuts.