6 Health Benefits of Mulberries

Mulberries are delicious and nutritious, people all over the world enjoy it. Mulberries are a product of the Morus alba tree. Its leaves, which also contain nutrients and are even used as food for silkworms, are thin, glossy and light green; the fruit, like grapes, is red or white and grows in bunches called “drupes.”

1. Source of Antioxidants

Antioxidants help lessen the damage caused by free radicals and the entire mulberry plant- leaves, stems, and fruit, contains antioxidants. One antioxidant in particular, resveratrol, has gotten much attention. Research published by the University of Texas Health Science Center credits resveratrol for positive effects on age and longevity. 

2. Immune System Support

Mulberries contain alkaloids that activate macrophages. Macrophages are white blood cells that stimulate the immune system, putting it on high active alert against health threats. 

3. Supports Healthy Blood Sugar

More formal research is appropriate, but mulberry is thought to contain compounds that support balanced blood sugar levels. Traditional medicine in China, Trinidad and Tobago have all used mulberry leaves to promote balanced blood sugar levels. 

4. Healthy Food!

Dried mulberries are a great source of protein, vitamin C and K, fiber, and iron. Best of all, they’re available in health food stores everywhere! Enjoy them as a great snack all by themselves or add them to your favorite trail mix. If you live in a warm climate and are lucky enough to have mulberry trees nearby, you can enjoy the fruit fresh off the tree. Not as tasty as the fruit, even the leaves contain protein, fiber, and nutrients! 

5. Resists Redness

Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have used mulberry as a remedy for swelling and redness.  A recent Romanian study discovered that a curcumin and mulberry leaf combination may be a new lead into natural remedies for this sort of irritation. 

6. Brain Protection?

Do mulberries offer anything to the brain? Researchers at Khon Kaen University in Thailand set out to answer that question by evaluating the effect of mulberry on male rats with memory impairment and brain damage. Although further investigation is required before mulberries can be declared a cognitive enhancer and neuroprotectant, rats that consumed mulberries had better memories and less oxidative stress. 

^{Credit: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/6-health-benefits-of-mulberries/}

Health benefits of coffee

For many years, coffee was considered a vice, linked with sleepless nights and cigarettes.
But scientists have discovered that coffee contains potent  antioxidants that can fight numerous ailments, including heart disease and  diabetes.According to the American Coffee Association, 54% of Americans  drink coffee on a daily basis, and they drink, on average, over three cups each.

The diseases coffee can benefit include:
Dementia. Drinking moderate amounts of coffee during middle age -classified as three to five cups daily - can decrease the  risk of dementia by 65%, according to a 2009 study by Swedish and Finnish researchers.
Liver disease.
In those who drink too much alcohol, those who drank the most coffee - more than four cups every day - reduced their risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis by 80%.
Heart disease.
Research associated with The Nurses' Health Study found that women who drank two to three cups of coffeedaily had a 25% lower risk of dying from heart disease. Along the same line, a Spanish study found that men who drank more than five cups of coffee each day lowered their risk of dying from heart disease by 44%, and that women who drank four to five cups each day reduced their risk by 34%.

Prostate cancer.
A recent study from Harvard Medical School found that men who drank the most coffee slashed their risk of developing the fastest growing and most difficult to treat prostate  cancers by more than half when compared to men who drank no coffee.
Gout.
Drinking four or more cups of coffee each day dramatically reduces the incidence of gout, say U.S. and Canadian researchers. Men who drank four to five cups daily lowered their risk by 40 percent, and those who drank six or more cups daily reduced their risk of developing gout by 59% when compared to men who didn't drink coffee.

Breast cancer.
Coffee can either reduce the risk of developing breast cancer or delay its onset, according to Swedish studies. They found that coffee alters a woman's metabolism and produces a safer balance of estrogens. Women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day reduced their cancer risk by as much as two-thirds, depending on the specific type of breast cancer.

Diabetes.D
Enjoying six or more cups of coffee daily can cut chances of Type 2 diabetes by 54% in men and 30% in  women over those who don't drink coffee.
Parkinson's disease.
Several studies show that drinking coffee lowers a man's risk of developing Parkinson's up to 80 percent - and the more the better.

Colon cancer
A Japanese report found that women who drank three or more cups of coffee every day slashed their risk of developing colon cancer in half.

What's responsible for coffee's healthy benefits? Most researchers believe it's the antioxidants (polyphenols or flavonoids) in coffee, but there are hundreds of compounds in coffee that may be partially responsible.