According to Belgian researchers from the University of Liege, storing some fruit and vegetables at room temperature or in your fridge will not result in any loss of phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid or flavonols, which are associated with antioxidant content.



In general, fruits and vegetables visually spoil before any significant antioxidant loss occurs, and in general, polyphenolic content increases. According to the researchers, black grapes contained the highest phenolic levels, followed by bananas, green grapes, lemons, strawberries and plums, while red and yellow peppers topped the phenolic ranking for vegetables

The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), a method for measuring the antioxidant capacities of different foods, ranked strawberries, cherries, plums and black grapes as the top four for the fruits, while peppers, closely followed by spinach, broccoli and garlic topped the list for vegetables.

Most people are well aware by now that the health benefits of consuming a diet rich in fruit and vegetables are backed up by a multitude of studies, with the five-a-day message well ingrained in public awareness. However, it seems that this message is only slowly filtering through to the general population, in that the average fruit and vegetable consumption of people in developed countries is only three portions a day.

Another exciting finding involving dark skinned fruit and vegetables, is the extract BEC5 taken from eggplant, that can literally help fight skin cancer. Now researchers have found two more purple produce items that have anti-cancer effects on the skin, grapes and blackberries.

In one US study, researchers studied groups of mice, who were fed either a regular control diet or a diet high in substances from grape seeds called proanthocyanids (GSPs). All were then exposed to ultraviolet light. They found that the GSP-supplemented mice had 65 percent fewer skin tumours than the control group, and the tumours that did develop in the GSP group were 78 percent smaller than those in the control mice.

In another US study, researchers exposed mice to UVB radiation three times a week for 25 weeks. One group of mice was treated with a gel containing freeze-dried black raspberry powder, while the other group got raspberry-free gel. The researchers found that the raspberry group had half the number of tumours found in the control group, and the ones that did develop were smaller and slower-growing.

The research teams in both studies were quick to warn people against trying these remedies at home, but there's really no harm in increasing your intake of black grapes and other fruits that are high in antioxidants, as this would explain at least some of their anti-skin cancer properties, and these fruits are really good for you anyway.

Thomas Edison said "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."

If we want to live not just to a ripe old age, but healthy, and in full control of our faculties, the very best place to start is with our diet. We must eat natural foods like fruit and vegetables, and at least our five-a-day. We must exclude junk food, pastries, cakes, biscuits, and any other simple carbohydrates. We are what we eat, and we can become better by eating better.

Our proteins should comprise chicken without the skin, salmon and other fish, along with seeds and grains. Red meat should be eaten only very occasionally, and never well-done; if you cook red meat until it is burnt it produces carcinogens which cause cancer.

Our bread should be brown multigrain, leave alone the white plastic sliced bread.

Eat porridge with skimmed milk for breakfast, and if you can't eat it without any sweetener, leave the sugar alone and use Agave Nectar (you can buy this in Tesco) which is a low GI sweetener like runny honey. A bowl of porridge will last you till lunchtime, and you won't need a mid-morning snack. If you must snack, have some sticks of celery and carrots.

Buy some vegetables and make batches of home made soup. Freeze in storage boxes in one or two portion sizes, and eat with multigrain bread for a healthy lunch, or an evening meal if you have had your main meal midday.

I am including here one of my chef husband's soup recipes:

Cream of broccoli soup - serves 4-6 (depending on whether the soup will be used for a starter, or for a lunchtime meal)

500g of broccoli 1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

1.25 litres vegetable stock

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt, black pepper and paprika

1 cup double cream

Sprig of parsley

Trim some of the florets from the stalks of broccoli, blanch the florets in boiling water till they are tender but not overcooked, chill in cold water and keep till required.

Sweat the onions in the oil gently without colouring, add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the broccoli and stalks which have been washed and chopped, and the herbs and seasoning, bring back to the boil and simmer until the broccoli is tender but still has a good green colour.

Liquidize in a food processor, then pass through a sieve (optional). Reheat and add cream and broccoli florets just before serving. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley.