Better Than Goji Berries

There are some dried fruits even more antioxidant-packed than goji berries.

January 11, 2012
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  • Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Check out the other videos on fruits and don’t miss all the videos on ranking foods. Don’t miss yesterday’s video Dried apples versus cholesterol. And there are 1,449 subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them!

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  • aklaum

    The Raw Food World (www.therawfoodworld.com) carries organic dried barberries. I’m going to place an order after seeing this video. :) Thanks for all the great information, Dr. Greger!

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  • DSikes

    How do dried cranberries rank? Prob close to blueberries I’m guessing. They’re available as ‘craisins’ in low cost large quantity and make a great snack food.

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    • BPCveg

      DSikes,

      Dried cranberries ranked higher (by about 30%) for antioxidant content than dried blueberries.

      Hope this helps.

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  • BPCveg

    Dr. Greger,

    The data presented in the bar graph of this video does not agree with the data presented in the antioxidant table of the source article. Most importantly, the “top dogs” for antioxidant content of dried berries should be in the following order:

    1 = dried indian gooseberries (i.e. dried amla berries)
    2 = dried dog rose
    3 = dried wild bilberries
    4 = dried blackberries
    5 = dried whortle berries
    6 = dried barberries
    7 = dried rowanberries
    8 = dried pomegranate seeds, etc.

    Note that rowanberries place much lower on the list than you stated (I think that you may have misspoken and meant dog rose instead). Also, you neglected to mention wild bilberries and dried blackberries on your graph.

    While the overall message of your video remains sound, you may wish to revise the data presentation for greater accuracy.

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Ther actually go through more than 200 berry and berry products! As I mention a bunch of times in this series of videos I try to stick to things you are actually available. Like in Best Berries I talk about dog rose berries but then dismiss them by saying “getting back to things you can actually buy in a store.” I do have a bit of fun in this video talking about a few whacky ones (“now just for trivia’s sake”) but indeed you’d have to go to the original source for the full list–that’s why I always make sure to list the sources! Have you ever seen dried blackberries? Bilberries? I would have included them if I had. I love Rain Vainik’s comment below about actually finding whortleberries–I’m glad I mentioned them!

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      • BPCveg

        Thanks! Of course, you are right about the challenge of finding certain products in stores of major cities. Though, don’t underestimate the ability of your website to affect buyer interests. Dried blackberries could easily become available in stores once it becomes known that it is one of the best sources of antioxidants.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/rain.vainik Rain Vainik

    I’m happy whortle berries are ranked high :)
    it seems to be the same thing as lingonberries actually
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_vitis-idaea
    and they are very common in my country Estonia too :)
    I usually deepfry them

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  • http://www.facebook.com/gregmil Greg Milette

    Would this product count? It doesn’t say “indian” in the description.

    http://nuts.com/driedfruit/gooseberries/natural.html?gclid=CLvRy7axyq0CFQPf4AodXG2V9g

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Those look like Physalis peruviana (cape gooseberries) to me. Wrong berry (and ridiculously expensive!)

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  • nosrednamik@gmail.com

    I live in Sweden and in the end of the summer there’s whortleberries (aka. lingonberries) EVERYWHERE in the forests. You’ll come home with KILOS, for free! :-D However they are a bit sour but we often make jam out of them and also put them in stews.

    We have LOTS of trees with rowanberries as well, especially since the trees is used as exterior city design. But the rowanberries are the absolutely most bitter edible I’ve eaten. It’s disgusting. You can’t it directly from the tree, your face will start to cramp because of the sourness. I wonder if you can dry them at home and ground it to a powder or something.

    You’re the best Dr. Greger!

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      You are SO lucky! My new volume 8 nutrition DVD comes out next month. Care to trade it for some whortleberry jam? :)

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  • http://poxacuatl.wordpress.com/ Poxacuatl

    Good! I’ve been consuming the gooseberries in my green smoothies!
    I don’t see maqui berries on this list. They are readily available now, too.

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