Why great-tasting foods taste great!

It had never crossed my mind to wonder why certain berries and fruits taste so amazing. Blueberries, for example, which I try to have every morning on my cereal, are just incredible. Even writing about them makes my mouth water. But not only blueberries … black currants, gooseberries, raspberries, cherries …they’re are all tiny packages of power.

But aside from enjoying those potent and intense flavours (I’m not so into the more wishy washy melons or apples), I have never given any thought to how and why they taste like they do.

Natural foods (food that comes from plants rather than a factory) are the product of thousands of years of evolution and adaptation. The taste, colour and everything about berries and the plant they grow on has evolved to enhance and ensure each particular plants survival. Some of them use toxins and thorns to put animals off eating them and others use taste, smell and colour to attract insects and birds.

The blueberry, for example, has evolved to nourish and protect the seeds inside it. The berry is full of nutrients which stop the seed getting spoiled as well as minerals to give them strength and sugars to give the seeds their energy. When we eat a blueberry, we are consuming a round, blue ball of all the goodness - filled with vitamins, minerals and energy - that the berry has created for its species survival.

The plant also produces chemical compounds known as phytonutrients (phyto means plant). These combat any toxins and free radicals in our bodies , the result of stress, poor diet, pollution, smoking and generally poor lifestyle habits or environments. Phytonutrients help our bodies work more effectively as well as fighting inflammation. They are responsible (thumbs up to them!) for the berry’s incredible flavour, smell and colour which also help to attract birds to eath them, thus spreading the seeds about. Very, very clever.

It’s not berry season but they’re stil obtainable from most shops. Strawberries are great in the Summer and fresh blackberries are one of the highlights of early Autumn. Black currants are an unsung hero to my mind - maybe more difficult to get hold of but a cup of fresh blackcurrant juice (not shop bought) is a complete thrill for your body and senses, and packed full of goodness.

It’s not just berries, of course, that are designed to exite our senses. Most strongly coloured foods are packed full of goodness (think spinach, kale, beetroot) and have all evolved in some way to ensure their survival and success. Let’s use that success to help our bodies work in a more balanced and better way.