But first, let’s talk about antioxidants in my wild blueberry, pomegranate and lemon popsicle. Yep. AN-TI-OX-I-DANT. We talk about them all the time, we know we should be eating more of them, but WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY ANYWAY?
Well here’s the dealio without giving you my biochemistry textbook definition so you can get to eating and enjoying that delish lemon popsicle in peace. Without giving you the ol’ biochemisty textbook definition, antioxidants are substances that counteract the process of oxidative stress in the body and oxidative stress is thought to be behind health issues like cancer, heart disease and other chronic disease in our body.
Oxidation is also the same process that makes apples go brown when you cut them in half! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to look like a brown rotten apple.
So why does this even happen? Well it’s all thanks to some pesky molecules called free radicals. We accumulate free radicals in the body as part of normal bodily processes, but they can build up in excess thanks to environmental stressors like pollution, sun damage, x rays, smoking, and too much booze. Uh oh.
The way free radical do their damage is by carrying around one or more unpaired electrons, which makes them unstable. In an effort to stabilize themselves, they rush through our body, stealing an electron from an unsuspecting healthy cell nearby which in turn will become a free radical. Then that cell (now a free radical) goes and steals an electron from another healthy cell which essentially starts a free radical cascade that can cause serious DNA damage if it continues.
But that’s where antioxidants come in to save the day. Antioxidants are like little helmits that protect our healthy cells from becoming oxidized by free radicals, and are the reason why lemon juice can keep our apples crisp and white. Lemon juice contains antioxidants! That’s why you need to make yourself a lemon popsicle ASAP.
In our body, antioxidants like the ones in this blueberry, pomegranate and lemon popsicle neutralize the free radicals by donating an electron and in turn become oxidized themselves. But don’t worry, even oxidized, they’re not harmful because they’re stable in either form. However, as soon as those antioxidants are oxidized, we need to replenish the supply, so this is why eating one orange a week is not going to cut it!
Thankfully, getting your daily 7-10 servings of colourful fruits and vegetables will supply you with loads of delicious antioxidant power. And one of my favourite ways to get my fix, especially in summer is with my Wild Blueberry, Pomegranate and Lemon Popsicle !
This lemon popsicle starts with antioxidant rich lemons and gets some support from tasty pomegranates and wild blueberries. Don’t they look pretty?
A Lemon Popsicle with the POWER of Blueberries!
Each wild blueberry in each lemon popsicle is loaded with anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, with more antioxidant power packed into a 1/2 cup serving than almost any other fruit! With all that good stuff going on, research has consistently linked these little gems to a reduced risk of Parkinsons disease, cardiovascular disease, various cancers and symptoms of metabolic syndrome. They’re also very figure friendly and a great low cal summer treat, with a whopping 400 berries clocking in at just 45 calories! Woot woot!!
More of a visual person? Check out the hilarious youtube video here with the recipe for my lemon popsicle and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more great videos!
Wild Blueberry, Pomegranate and Lemon Popsicle
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups frozen wild blueberries
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 pomegranate seeds removed
Instructions
- Heat the blueberries, 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 1/2 tbsp. honey in a small saucepan over medium high heat until it bubbles, thickens and gets jammy. Divide between 8 popcycle mold and pop in the freezer for at least 1-3 hours.
- Meanwhile, dissolve the 3/4 cup lemon juice, 1 1/2 cup water and 3 tbsp honey in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
- Pour the lemonade over the blueberry layer and add 2 tsp of pomegranate seeds into each mold. Add in a wooden stick, and freeze everything over night before enjoying.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The preceding post and video were developed in paid partnership with Wild Blueberries, however, as always, all opinions are genuine.
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
ANNA says
Dear Abbey,
I clicked this recipe because it sounds delicious and I’m always looking for Hot Summer Recipes.
I was hoping it was a breakfast. The idea for eating popsicles for breakfast I got from an tokyoer blogger I think bamboo princess or something similar. She said that in really hot and moist japqn summer when you wake up already trechned in sweat and can’t eat anything she makes popsicles with muesli, fruits, yoghurt or milk. I really appreciate this and thank her a lot, but can’t digest oats well and I don’t like muesli as an always breakfast. So I hope you could post some popsicle breakfast recipes.? My problem with a lot of ideas is that I don’t like everything with smashed bananas, so I think Nice Cream isn’t an option and Banana Bread I tasted already. I don’t get the hang of a lot of typical us-american staples like maple syrup, peanut butter, savory muffins or muffins at all for breakfast etc. So I run out of ideas really fast. I think there are more people like me. For reference what I always eat for. Breakfast: Misosoup with Tofu and cabbage and DIY Buns with millet/seeds/etc with cream cheese and tomato/mozzarella/basil.
I would love love love to read about ideas for breakfast popsicles, which are not muesli plus muesli toppings frozen
If you are considering it, thank you a lot in advance!
Sara says
So creative!
Bridget Swinney says
Love the recipe and what a cute video!!
Abbey Sharp says
thanks Bridget!!
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious says
Beautiful popsicles and awesome video, as always!
Cattus says
If I may add a caveat regarding antioxidants. Studies of the effects of antioxidant ‘supplements’ are still inconclusive and may even be pointing at some harm for some people. So before you try to make up your antioxidant intake with supplements, I recommend that you check some reliable web-sources and your doctor. Here’s one of many resources: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/antioxidants.html.
However, intake of antioxidants via foods seems to yield positive results generally. So as advised here you should maintain or increase your intake of antioxidant foods. Besides these are some of the most delicious foods around.