Blueberries are the fruits of a shrub that belong to the heath (Ericaceae) family whose other members include the cranberry and bilberry as well as the azalea, mountain laurel, and rhododendron. Blueberries grow in clusters and range in size from that of a small pea to a marble. They are deep in color, ranging from blue to maroon to purple-black, and feature a white-gray waxy "bloom" that covers the berry's surface and serves as a protective coat. The skin surrounds a semi-transparent flesh that encases tiny seeds. Blueberries are at their best from May through October when they are in season.
With flavors that range from mildly sweet (cultivated) to tart and tangy (wild), blueberries are nutritional stars bursting with nutrition and flavor while being very low in calories. Blueberries are a very good source of free radical-scavenging vitamin C and manganese, as well as heart-healthy fiber. Blueberries are also a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E.
In terms of U.S. fruit consumption, blueberries rank only second to strawberries in popularity of berries. Blueberries are not only popular, but also repeatedly ranked in the U.S. diet as having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings. Antioxidants are essential to optimizing health by helping to combat the free radicals that can damage cellular structures as well as DNA. We recommend enjoying raw blueberries--rather than relying upon blueberries incorporated into baked desserts--because, like other fruits, raw blueberries provide you with the best flavor and the greatest nutritional benefits.
Blueberry is used for preventing cataracts and glaucoma and for treating ulcers, urinary tract infections (UTIs), multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), colic, fever, varicose veins, and hemorrhoids. Blueberry is also used for improving circulation, and as a laxative.
Some women use blueberry for labor pains and as a tonic after miscarriage.
The dried fruit and leaves are used for diarrhea.
Tea made from the dried leaves is used for sore throat and swelling (inflammation) of the mouth or the skin lining the throat.
Health providers have used blueberry juice as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Contrast agents make it possible for radiologists to see and interpret the images.
Some people inhale the fumes of burning dried blueberry flowers for treatment of insanity.
Eating fresh fruits of all kinds is very important to our everyday and long-term health. One of the most important of these fruits is blueberries. Blueberries are one of the most anti-oxidant rich foods known to man and eating them often can go a long way in helping people maintain their health.
Blueberries are often known as a super food due to their extremely high nutritional value and long list of healthy vitamins and minerals. A list of all of the health benefits of blueberries is to long to cover in just one article but below we have included some of the most significant benefits of eating blueberries regularly.
In order to get these benefits to the fullest we recommend that you grow your own blueberries or consume dietary blueberry pills regularly. By growing blueberries on your own you should be able to afford it better since blueberries can be quite expensive. Growing your own blueberries also allows you to get fully organic blueberries that are guaranteed to be free of any harmful pesticides or chemicals.
Now onto some the benefits of blueberries…
The #1 health benefit of blueberries would be LDL cholesterol reduction. Dr. Agnes Rimando and a team of researchers at the University of Mississippi's Natural Products Utilization Research, set out to find a natural alternative to cholesterol lowering drugs. The nutrient Pterostilbene was one of their three most successful studies, which are found in high concentrations in blueberries. Health Benefits of the outcome included a 29% drop in LDL cholesterol and a 7% increase in good. In addition, because the Pterostilbene in blueberries was quite selective in the cells it targeted, it didn't cause the nausea or muscle fatigue that the cholesterol lowering drug did. Voila' - A success.
Of all the blueberries health benefits, perhaps the most famous is resveratrol. While few know that blueberries are a source of resveratrol, many know the health benefits from the stories and news on red wine. Resveratrol in blueberries helps combat the signs of aging, improve life extension, fight disease, prevent free radical damage and increase cardiovascular function. In the world of antioxidants, resveratrol and the OPC's in blueberries are the superheros. Make sure you're taking a daily nutritional supplement with these antioxidants to get the benefits all year long.
Blueberries help people to boost their immune systems. This is because they offer very high levels of vitamin C. Getting enough vitamin C is vital to anyone that wants to keep their immune system working at the highest level. Other important nutrients that are found in blueberries to help with overall health include manganese, vitamin A, b-complex, copper, selenium, zinc, and iron. All of these nutrients combined help people to be more healthy and as a result their bodies are more resistant the common cold, flu, and other viral infections.
Blueberries help reduce people's risk for aged related diseases. Blueberries are loaded with a ton of anti-oxidants that have been scientifically proven to help people reduce their risk for cataracts, dementia, glaucoma, alzheimers, and many other diseases. In a study involving older adults (with an average age of 76 years), 12 weeks of daily blueberry consumption was enough to improve scores on two different tests of cognitive function including memory. While participants in the study consumed blueberries in the form of juice, three-quarters of a pound of blueberries were used to make each cup of juice. As participants consumed between 2 to 2-1/2 cups each day, the participants actually received a very plentiful amount of berries. The authors of this study were encouraged by the results and suggested that blueberries might turn out to be beneficial not only for improvement of memory, but for slowing down or postponing the onset of other cognitive problems frequently associated with aging.
Blueberries can help reduce people's risk for cancer. As said earlier, blueberries are loaded with a ton of anti-oxidants. One of these anti-oxidants which is known as Anthocyanin is known for helping to reduce free radicals that are a known contributor to cancer. Having blueberries regularly to get enough anti-oxidants can go a long way in helping someone avoid cancer. In vitro research carried out in 2001 at the University of Mississippi found that blueberry extracts slowed the growth of two aggressive cervical cancer lines and two fast-replicating breast cancer cell lines. A 2005 study at the University of Georgia demonstrated blueberry extract's ability to inhibit cell proliferation in two separate lines of colon cancer cells, reducing by more than 50% the rate at which the cells otherwise multiplied. Researchers concluded that phenolic compounds in blueberries can inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation and bring on apoptosis (programmed cell death). Blueberries contain another antioxidant compound called ellagic acid, which blocks metabolic pathways that can lead to cancer.
Blueberries have been proven to reduce people's risk for heart disease. Having a regular and consistent diet that includes blueberries has been proven to help people reduce their risk for heart disease and even reduce belly fat. The nutrients in blueberries along with their low fat and low sugar all work together to help people reduce their tyglycerides and cholesterol and in turn lower their risk for a heart attack.
Blueberries help to promote urinary tract health. Eating blueberries regularly is an excellent way to support a healthy urinary tract and avoid a urinary tract infection. It does this by preventing bacteria from adhering to the cells that line the walls of the urinary tract. Beyond this blueberries are so beneficial at supporting a healthy urinary tract that in some cases blueberry juice is actually prescribed by doctors to help people get over a UTI .
Blueberries have been shown in recent studies to help slow the deterioration of vision. As people get older their visions tends to get worse and worse. Blueberries, with their high concentration of anthocyanosides have been shown to help slow this deterioration of vision. Several research studies have demonstrated that the phytochemicals in the fruit can prevent damage to eyes as well as in the treatment of shortsightedness. Taken regularly, especially if you are a diabetic, blueberries can significantly reduce your risk of eye ailments, such as diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina) and cataracts, as well as glaucoma, according to a few clinical studies. Harvard researchers have shown that blueberry extracts can diminish the risk of age-related macular degeneration. There are other encouraging reports from animal studies pointing to the benefits of blueberry extract in specific eye surgeries, such as intraocular transplantation. During World War II, British fighter pilots reported improved nighttime vision after eating bilberry jam (a variety of blueberry). French researchers found that bilberry helped improve nighttime visual acuity, adjustment to darkness, and recovery from glare.
Bilberry (a variant of blueberry) helps prevent diarrhea and wounds. It has been used in European medicine for nearly a thousand years, primarily to treat diarrhea. The fruit contains tannins, substances that act as both an anti-inflammatory and an astringent (constricting and tightening tissues). Bilberry is believed to help people with diarrhea by reducing intestinal inflammation.
Blueberries help promote healthy digestive systems. Blueberries are high in sodium, copper, fructose, and acids that all help improve digestion. They are also high in fiber which helps to prevent constipation.
Blueberries allow people to fulfill their fruit needs without consuming as much sugar. Everybody needs to get 3-4 servings of fruit each day. The problem with this is that fruits contain a lot of sugar. Blueberries however are really low in sugar in comparison to other fruits. A cup of blueberries has roughly 80 calories and they are very low on the glycemic index. As a result blueberries are a better choice than many other fruits. GI is a common way of identifying the potential impact of a food on our blood sugar level once we've consumed and digested that food. In general, foods with a GI of 50 or below are considered “low” in terms of their glycemic index value. A recent study that included blueberries as a low-GI fruit has found that blueberries, along with other berries, clearly have a favorable impact on blood sugar regulation in persons already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants in the study who consumed at last 3 servings of low-GI fruits per day (including blueberries) saw significant improvement in their regulation of blood sugar over a three-month period of time. (Their blood levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, or HgA1C were used as the standard of measurement in this study.) It's great to see blueberries providing these clear health benefits for blood sugar regulation!
Other health benefits. At a 2004 meeting of the American Chemical Society it was reported that a compound found in blueberries (pterostilbene) could be a “potent weapon in the battle against obesity and heart disease through its cholesterol-reducing potential.” The report added that the compound “may help fight cancer”. Another study, conducted by Mary Ann Lila, Ph.D., Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, indicate that compounds in Wild Blueberries may be effective inhibitors of both the initiation and promotion stages of cancer.
A 2004 in vitro study on rats suggests that blueberries may have applications in the prevention of stroke in humans. Wild blueberry-rich diets affect the contractile machinery of the vascular smooth muscle in the Sprague-Dawley rat.
Research conducted in 2002 suggests that blueberries may protect the brain against the damage that is normally associated with ischemic stroke.
Research is currently underway at the USDA's Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center to investigate the role blueberries may play in preventing childhood obesity. The National Institute of Aging (NIA) is also conducting blueberry research to identify the effect that a wild blueberry diet could have on stress resistance. Preliminary results indicate that blueberries may be as effective as pharmaceuticals.
You can see from the benefits listed above that blueberries are extremely healthy and do a lot to help people maintain their health, not only right now but throughout their lives. If you don't eat a lot of blueberries then it may be time for a change. The easiest way to do this is to purchase and plant your very own blueberry plants. Another option of course is to simply buy them from your local supermarket or vitamin shop. Regardless of what you chose we highly recommend that you begin enjoying the health benefits of blueberries by adjusting your diet to include more of them.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Center have found that blueberries rank No. 1 in antioxidant benefits, compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables. From a nutrient perspective blueberries exhibit the following, as taken from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 21 (2008):
In a 1/3 Cup Sample of Blueberries (which equals 5o berries or 68 grams):
57.26 grams is water
.5 grams protein
.2 grams fat
1.6 grams of fiber
13 grams is sugar
Minerals
Calcium
4 mg Magnesium 4 mg Phosphorus 8mg Potassium 52 mg Sodium 1 mg Traces
of: Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese & Selenium.
Vitamins
Vitamin
C 6.6 mg Folate 4 mcg Choline 4.1 mg Vitamin A 39 mcg Carotene 22 mcg
Lutein 54 mcg Vitamin K 13.1 mcg Traces of: Thiamin, Riboflavin,
Niacin, Vitamin B-6, & Vitamin E.
Other Nutrients
Anthocyanins, Pterostilbene, Chlorogenic Acid, Ellagic Acid, Proanthocyanidins (OPC's), Resveratrol, Flavonols, and Tannins.
ORAC Units
2400 ORAC* units per 100 grams of blueberries. Health Benefits of that would be like eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
Blueberry fruit is LIKELY SAFE for most people. But not enough is known about the safety of taking blueberry leaf by mouth. It's best to avoid taking leaves.
Special precautions & warnings:
Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Blueberry fruit is LIKELY SAFE when used in amounts commonly found in foods. But not enough is known about the safety of the larger amounts used for medicine. Stick to normal food amounts if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.
Diabetes:
Blueberry might lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
Watch for signs of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and monitor your
blood sugar carefully if you have diabetes and use blueberry. The
dose of your diabetes medications may need to be adjusted by your
healthcare provider.
Surgery: Blueberry might affect
blood glucose levels and could interfere with blood sugar control
during and after surgery. Stop using blueberry at least 2 weeks
before a scheduled surgery.
Blueberries and Tannins: Blueberries contain small amounts of chemicals known as tannins. In large amounts, tannins have been associated with liver and kidney damage. Consumption of high tannin supplements can also lead to esophageal or mouth cancer.
Blueberries and Oxalates: Blueberries are among a small number of foods that contain measurable amounts of oxalates, naturally-occurring substances found in plants, animals, and human beings. When oxalates become too concentrated in body fluids, they can crystallize and cause health problems. For this reason, individuals with already existing and untreated kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid eating blueberries. Laboratory studies have shown that oxalates may also interfere with absorption of calcium from the body. However, the ability of oxalates to lower calcium absorption is relatively small and definitely does not outweigh the ability of oxalate-containing foods to contribute calcium to the meal plan. If your digestive tract is healthy, and you do a good job of chewing and relaxing while you enjoy your meals, you will get significant benefits - including absorption of calcium - from calcium-rich foods that contain oxalic acid. Ordinarily, a healthcare practitioner would not discourage a person focused on ensuring that they are meeting their calcium requirements from eating these nutrient-rich foods because of their oxalate content.
Be watchful with this combination.
Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs)
Blueberry leaves might
decrease blood sugar. Diabetes medications are also used to lower
blood sugar. Taking blueberry leaves along with diabetes medications
might cause your blood sugar to go too low. Monitor your blood sugar
closely. The dose of your diabetes medication might need to be
changed.
Some medications used for diabetes include
glimepiride (Amaryl), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab,
Micronase), insulin, pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia),
chlorpropamide (Diabinese), glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide
(Orinase), and others.
There are no known interactions with herbs and supplements.
There are no known interactions with foods.
Here are some reviews highlighting some of the health benefits of taking blueberry supplements:
------------------------------------------
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Trying to be healthy, December 20, 2007
By
gem gal "80% off lover" (New Jersey)
I have heard that blueberries had lots of antioxidents, but to buy blueberries in the supermarket is very expensive. I had been looking for capsules (to no avail) and was very happy to see that Amazon had them, and at a very good price too. Went on the auto ship program and so far so good. Have no idea if they are helping me healthwise,(that's why only the 4 stars) but I have not been sick with a cold while everyone around me at work has colds.
------------------------------------------
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Lowers Blood Glucose Level, March 29, 2011
By
Timelessbeauty
I am pre-diabetic. My fasting blood glucose level is 120. I read about this product... and said let me try it. Well, I must say it does exactly what is says. My fasting blood glucose is now 90 after one week of use. I hope it keeps going down to around 78 but so far I am very happy with this product.
------------------------------------------
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Blueberry benefits, September 13, 2010
By
Southern Suggestions
Since the fruit is out of season, this [blueberry pill] was an easy way to continue receiving the benefits.
------------------------------------------