Reasons to Add Raspberries to Your Diet

By Jo Ann LeQuang

There is something inherently elegant about raspberries. Botanically related to the rose, raspberries come in a variety of species and are cultivated in almost all temperate parts of the world. Most familiar to us in America are red raspberries, but purple, black, and golden raspberries also exist. And if you’re a fan of the exotic loganberry or boysenberry, they trace their roots back to the raspberries in that they are hybrids derived in part from the raspberry. Raspberries are expensive in part because they are a tough plant to grow commercially. First, the raspberry must be picked at the ideal point of ripeness—once they’re picked, they will not continue to ripen the way a banana does (at least not much). Second, they bruise easily so they must be subjected to minimal handling. This is difficult because, third, raspberries start to decline soon after they are picked so they must be brought to market quickly. And, fourth, at room temperature, raspberries are very susceptible to mold. When purchasing raspberries, always look them over for traces of mold. If you can find raspberries in your supermarket or farmer’s market, indulge. Here are 10 natural health benefits from adding fresh (or fresh frozen) raspberries to your diet.

Terms

And, on a more vulgar note, raspberry is a term that can be used to describe a rude sound to express disgust or derision. People from the East Coast may know this as the Bronx cheer. So common is the term raspberry for this coarse sound that the word “razz” was coined to indicate general derision or harassment. How did such an elegant fruit as the raspberry get mixed up with the Bronx cheer? Well, blame it on rhyming slang, that is, a British habit of using a term that sounds like another. In this case, they wanted to say fart (what the vulgar cheer sounds like), but chose instead a word that rhymed with it—raspberry tart. That got shortened to just plain raspberry way back around the turn of the last century.