Raspberries and Human Health: A Short-term Intervention Trial Investigating the Effect of Daily Red Raspberry Consumption on Fasting Oxidative Stress Biomarkers

Red raspberries are an excellent source of numerous polyphenolic antioxidants. The bioactivity of these compounds have been implicated in many biological pathways and may function to reduce the risk of numerous chronic diseases. We are conducting an intervention study with frozen red raspberries on a healthy adult population in order to determine if raspberry polyphenols are bioavailable and bioactive in vivo. Twenty-four subjects (12 male and 12 female) will be recruited to participate and consume one-cup frozen red raspberries daily for two weeks, they then will randomly be assigned to consume either one, two or four cups of raspberries for another two weeks, this will be followed by four weeks of non-treatment. Blood samples and 12-hour urine collections will be taken in order to measure the concentration of raspberry polyphenols in response to treatment dose. Dose-dependent treatment effects on blood biomarkers for antioxidant capacity, oxidative stress, inflammation and other chronic disease risk factors will also be measured.