Antioxidant compounds found in blueberries, sweet cherries, strawberries and blackberries may fight arterial disease by preventing the oxidation of LDL ("bad") cholesterol.

Because the oxidation of LDL is an important step in the development of heart disease, the findings suggest that the phenolic compounds found in such berries may have a potential health benefit. In a series of experiments in laboratory culture dishes, researchers found that blackberries had the most antioxidant activity in one experiment and sweet cherries in another, with strawberries being the least active in the study.

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry September 12,1998.

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

In addition to preventing urinary tract infection, berries may also help protect against heart disease. My personal favorites are raspberries and strawberries which grow exceptionally well in the Chicago area. They take about one year to set and one will not have a major crop the first year they are planted.

But the following years they take off and one can harvest quarts every day of the fruit which can be frozen for further use. One might want to consider a patch of these fruits next year to prepare for Y2K. I suspect fruits in the spring of 2000 will be quite a welcome treat.