We know them as a sweet stone fruit with a charismatic stalk, but there is so much more to the cherry than adding the finishing touch to an ice cream.

Cherries are best grown in the summer, and for Australia and New Zealand, that means a peak season of around December.

They can be bought fresh, canned or frozen. They can be eaten raw (mainly sweet varieties) in salads and by dropping a few in your cherry juice.

Sour cherries are often in baking. Ironically, although these varieties often have more vitamin C than sweet cherries do, much of it is lost when they are heated.

“Recommended for gout sufferers to help reduce uric acid levels, and ease pain and inflammation. Cherries are also packed with free radical fighting antioxidants.”

This guilt free treat is packed with benefits.

Hot cacao is a great way to consume something nutritious while feeling decadent. But you should buy cacao in its raw form, rather than the highly processed, low-grade hot chocolates that contain nothing but empty kilojoules and little in the way of true cacao.

“Choose a good organic dark chocolate that is rich in antioxidants. Chocolate is high in sugars and saturated fat so don't over do it.”

Broccoli is thought to offer some of the most potent anti-cancer and anti-viral properties of any food. Find a way to get it into your meals.

Belonging to the cabbage family, broccoli is a super-nutritious plant whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.

There are three common types of broccoli, the most familiar being Calabrese broccoli, which has large green heads and thick stalks. There is also sprouting broccoli (sometimes referred to as broccolini) which has a larger number of heads with many thin stalks. Purple cauliflower is a type of broccoli sold in southern Italy, Spain, and the UK which has a head shaped like cauliflower, but consists of tiny flower buds.

Broccoli has high levels in vitamin C and dietary fibre, while also containing multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties. It’s thought that diindolyl methane found in broccoli may potentially bolster the body’s immune system with anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity.

Also, broccoli is a particularly rich source of a flavonoid called kaempferol. Some recent studies have shown kaempferol to potentially reduce the impact of allergy-related substances on our body.

“Contains important sulfur compounds that enhance the livers ability to detoxify toxins and protect us from carcinogenic substances.”

Blueberries have enjoyed a lot of praise in recent years, being one of the first foods to be hailed a ‘super food’.

Blueberries may be small but they pack a big, powerful punch in the nutrition stakes. These tiny blue treasures lay claim to a host of important nutrients - including manganese, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber.

Blueberries also contain anthocyanins and other phytochemicals thought to play a role in reducing the risk of inflammatory diseases and cancer. Animal studies found blueberry consumption lowered cholesterol and total blood lipid levels, which could help in the treatment of heart disease. Similar to red grapes, blueberries contain resveratrol, a chemical with high antioxidant activity that is believed to potentially offer anti-carcinogenic effects to humans.

Native to North America, blueberries can be found growing in the wild but are now cultivated all around the world to meet the ever-growing demand for this popular fruit.

“Blueberries are a fantastic source of anthocynanins, a potent antioxidant, which has anti-aging and anti-cancerous properties.”

Butter has been in and out of favour for years, but does it deserve such a bad rep?

Butter is made from pure cream that has been separated from milk and agitated. It contains animal fat globules, water and inorganic salts. It’s a dairy product that’s been around for at least 4000 years old and first came from camels and water buffaloes. A third of the world's milk production is devoted to butter making.

Margarine differs from butter in that it’s primarily made from plant-based oils. Since the 1920s vegetable oils (cottonseed and coconut) began replacing animal fats in margarine and eventually chemical additives were used to make it look, taste and spread like butter.

Today, we use three times as much margarine as we do butter, but there are many common misconceptions out there about the differences between the two.

“Choose a good quality organic butter. It is a rich source of vitamin A, essential for healthy mucous membranes, and vitamin D for strong bones.”

Rich in health-boosting nutrients, the humble beetroot is a valuable and versatile vegetable.

It may just be a common root vegetable, but beetroot is one of the world’s greatest super foods - packed with beneficial phytochemicals and antioxidants which protect the immune system. And it’s not just the beets - even their leaves pack a powerful punch nutritionally, with its top greens being an excellent source of vitamin C.

Beets owe their bright-red colour to their high levels of antioxidant plant pigments, betanin and betacyanin, which may help protect cells from certain cancers. In fact, research shows this deep purple veg may offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke; lower cholesterol levels within the body, and have anti-ageing effects.

The list of this vegetable’s valuable nutrients is long, but it can boast particularly high levels of beta carotene, folate, potassium, magnesium, sodium, vitamin C, calcium and also iron.

“High in anthyocynanins, a powerful antioxidant. Drinking the juice is beneficial for reducing high blood pressure.

The Romans and ancient Greeks viewed asparagus as a prized delicacy, and it’s easy to see why. This spear vegetable is packed full of nutrients and health-giving properties.

Asparagus may be well known as a vegetable but in ancient times it was also used as medicine, owing to its diuretic and antibacterial properties. One of the oldest recorded vegetables; asparagus is thought to have originated along coastal areas of eastern Mediterranean and Asian regions. The vegetable’s composition is 93 per cent water, which partly explains why asparagus is so low in calories and sodium. It’s also valued for being a great source of vitamins and minerals - along with dietary fibre, protein, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium.

Scientists have discovered asparagus can help with hangovers. Research published in the Journal of Food Science says extracts taken from leaves and shoots were found to boost levels of key enzymes that help break down alcohol.

Did you know...

Eating asparagus can make urine smell like rotten cabbage or ammonia. Only some of us can generate this odour. But nearly everyone who can generate and detect this odour assumes that everybody else can too!

“A good vegetable for pregnant women as it's a good source of folate, which helps reduce the risk of neural tube defects including spina bifida.”