Super foods for summer

If you grow fruit and veg in your garden, you'll know how good they taste. But for those of us who have to rely on supermarkets, summer time is a great time to stock up on fruit and veg goodies.

During summer loads of fruits and vegetables come into season - making them delicious, fresh and cheaper than the rest of the year.

Search out for British fruit and veg as it is often better for you because the sooner it is eaten after picking the more nutrients it contains.
Imported produce can take up to a year to be on sale hee after picking - some apples come from as far as New Zealand. Check labels for country of origin. Also try to buy organic to avoid pesticides and other nasties.

Apples
They may be the most common garden fruit, but apples are incredibly good for us. Apart from vitamin C, the pectin they contain helps neutralise the effects or harmful pollutants like lead from the atmosphere while malic and tartaric acid help cleanse the body of the acids that cause indigestion. Look out for great tasting British varieties like ultra sweet gala and semi tart Cox's eating apples and Bramley and Jonagold cooking apples. Marks and Spencer has the biggest range on offer.

Blueberries
The end of August is a peak time for berries (blackberries, loganberries, raspberries etc) which contain lots of fibre and antioxidants. Blueberries also contact anthocyanin, an antioxidant which gives the distinctive blue pigment and helps protect against free-radicals - unstable substances found in the body and in the environment thought to be triggers for cancer and heart disease.

Strawberries
Whether you pick your own or buy off the supermarket shelf, English strawberries are a bargain buy right now and absolutely jampacked with juicy goodness including vitamin C (more than oranges) B complex and folate. Eat them on their own or half an hour before the start of a meal to make the most of their internal cleansing qualities. In traditional medicine they are used for the elimination of kidney stones. Their purifying qualities are good for the spot-prone.

August 1st 2004