Greetings! In July's issue of Natural Cooking, you'll find great recipes for our featured in-season food, blueberries, including a sweet and savory blueberry sauce and blueberry flax breakfast cake or muffins. Make sure also to check out my divine carrot cake recipe for all those summer birthday parties and potlucks---it's made with pureed fruit and agave nectar, no refined sugars! Happy eating! --Alison Anton

Berries and other deliciously healthful fruits got a sudden bad rap when the Atkin's trend held America's dieters in its grip. But now as the fear of carbohydrates is starting to dissolve, I hope that dieters can once again enjoy the many pleasures and benefits of seasonal, fresh organic fruits, especially berries of all kinds.

Berries top the list of natural cancer and disease fighters and contain large amounts of anti-oxidants, which keep free-radicals in check.

I've heard of free-radicals, but what are they again? Free-radicals are unstable oxygen atoms floating around in the body---"unstable" meaning that they don't really have anywhere to go or any other companion atoms to hang out with. Just like people, these solitary atoms will naturally go out looking for someone to connect with. As soon as they see another oxygen atom that they want to meet, they'll grab it away from a healthy cell, leaving the cell in a state of lack.

This process is called oxidation, and when imbalanced, can cause disease in many forms. You can see what oxidation does to an avocado or an apple when it is left out for several hours. When oxidation occurs inside the body, a similar process happens. You might not turn brown, but it is nonetheless damaging to the healthy cells and tissues in the body.

"Anti"-oxidants, then, are the good guys that offer up oxygen atoms to the free-radicals so they don't get lonely and go stealing from healthy cells anymore. This, in turn, creates cellular harmony in the body.

Oxidation and an over abundance of free-radicals is brought on by many factors. Stress, pollution, drugs, pesticides and radiation are just a few. With today's environment and stress levels, it would behoove us not only to decrease our total load of stress and exposure, but to also increase our intake of foods and supplements rich in vital anti-oxidants.

Fortunately, most anti-oxidant rich foods are easy to detect. The vast majority of them are deep red, purple, orange and dark green in color. In most cases, the deeper the hue, the deeper the level of anti-oxidants in the food.

So don't be afraid to take advantage of nature's perfect foods this summer---blueberries, blackberries and strawberries should be staples throughout the growing season.

But remember that it is not only humans who love to devour these sumptuous summer fruits---molds, insects, birds and rodents eat them too, and they often head the list of the most chemically sprayed produce. So buy organic when you can and visit your local farmer's market every week.

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