Eating raspberries may slash your risk of heart disease

Eating raspberries could slash the risk of heart disease, a study claims.

Scientists have found the summer smoothie favourite keeps blood vessels healthy and aids circulation.

An organisation made up of raspberry growers and importers, who part-funded the trial, described its results as ‘exciting’.

Kings College London researchers led the study, which also involved scientists from universities in Germany and Spain.

Scientists say the summer smoothie favourite keeps blood vessels healthy and aids circulation

For the trial, 10 men consumed drinks made with either 200g or 400g of frozen raspberries, or two matched control drink.

All of the drinks were similar in terms of colour, taste and levels of polyphenols – compounds proven to help fight diseases.

Researchers done this on purpose, so that any effects they noted between the two drinks would be down to raspberries.

Participants had their blood and urine measured before drinking, two hours after consumption and a day later.

Volunteers who drunk the raspberry drink after two hours had better flow-mediated dilation (FMD) – the widening of an artery when blood flow increases.

FMD is an indicator of the health of the endothelial lining of the blood vessels, and the state of the lining can indicate a person’s risk of heart disease.

CAN RASPBERRIES INCREASE A MAN’S CHANCES OF BECOMING A FATHER?

Eating raspberries could help increase the chances of becoming a father, it was claimed in 2013.

They contain high levels of Vitamin C, a key nutrient in male fertility, and magnesium, which is involved in the production of testosterone.

They are also thought to protect sperm from ‘oxidative stress’.

A study by the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that men over 44 with the highest intake of Vitamin C had 20 per cent less damage to their sperm DNA than men who did not eat those foods.

This continued 24 hours after they consumed the drinks, according to senior author of the study, Dr Ana Rodriguez-Mateos.

Researchers believe if raspberries could sustain a change in FMD long enough, it would slash a person’s risk of heart disease by up to 15 per cent.

A further analysis showed there was a noticeable increase in the levels of urolithin metabolites in the blood of participants as FMD improved.

These are produced by bacteria in the gut as the body digests a chemical found in raspberries, known as ellagitannins.

The National Processed Raspberry Council, which donated an ‘unrestricted grant’ to the study, welcomed the findings.

Tom Krugman, executive director of the organisation, said: ‘We’re excited about these findings.’

He added the results may add to the ‘growing list of benefits from consuming red raspberries’. Further studies are needed to confirm the link.

The findings of the trial were published in the scientific journal The Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

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