Fruits Info

You hear a lot about the benefits of consumption fruits and vegetables, but the scientific processes following the results are seldom discussed.

Monday, the assistant director of UCLA's Center for Human Nutrition did just that, shedding a light on a complex subject for a group of agricultural and food writers.

Simplifying years of research on how eating strawberries could decrease one's chance of cancer, do wonders for the heart or stop the onset of neurological diseases, Navindra P. Seeram summed it up: "As we age, we're under a lot of oxidative stress, and the oxygen, believe it or not, can actually cause a lot of damage. Eating fruits and vegetables offsets the oxidation because they hold the right nutritional compounds.

"And if you consistently consume these compounds, you will ward off the stress those results in disease."

Although Seeram might have talked all day on the benefits of eating berries — raspberries, strawberries or blueberries — he kept his speech short.

But it was full of facts, which the Watsonville-based California Strawberry Commission is annoying to impress upon the public to promote good health and sell berries.