The benefits of eating Blueberries
help prevent the following:
- Age-related macular degeneration
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
When it comes to Superfoods, Blueberries in our opinion must be at the top of the list. There are about 16 superfoods but we don’t think any of them taste as good as Blueberries. Now putting taste to one side, hey also have one of the highest antioxidant levels of all common fruits and vegetables. In case you didn’t know, Antioxidants protect your body from free radicals, which can damage your cells and contribute to aging and diseases, such as cancer.
They are foods that are rich in phytochemicals, which are known to have disease fighting properties.
A superfood basically has a notably higher than normal amount of nutrient composition of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals.
1 Low in calories but high nutrients
The blueberry is a very palatable and hence a very popular berry. It is low in calories but high in fiber, vitamin C and vitamin K.
The blueberry bush is a flowering shrub that produces berries with a bluish, purple hue which we refer to as blueberries. It’s closely related to similar shrubs, such as cranberries and huckleberries. Blueberries are small, about 0.2 – 0.6 inches (5 – 16mm) in diameter with a featured flared crown at the end. Blueberries are among the most nutrient-dense berries.
In a 1 cup (148gm) serving of blueberries contains:
- Fiber: 4 gm
- Vitamin C: 24% of the RDI
- Vitamin K: 36% of the RDI
- Manganese: 25% of the RDI
- Small amounts of various other nutrients
- They are also about 85% water, and an entire cup contains only 84 calories, with 15 gm of carbohydrates.
2 Highest levels of Antioxidant Foods
Blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity of all the popular fruits and even vegetables. Flavonoids appear to be the blueberries antioxidant with the greatest impact.
Antioxidants protect your body from free radicals. These are unstable molecules that can damage your cells and contribute to aging and diseases, such as cancer. Research has found that Blueberries have one of the highest antioxidant levels of all common fruits and vegetables. One group of Blueberry flavonoids in particular anthocyanins is thought to be responsible for much of these beneficial health effects.
3 Blueberries Reduce DNA Damage
Several studies suggest that blueberries and blueberry juice reduce DNA damage, which is a leading driver of aging and cancer.
Oxidative DNA damage is an unavoidable part of everyday life. It is said to be occurring tens of thousands of times per day in every cell in your body. This DNA damage is part of the reason we grow older. Due to the cell changes it also plays an important role in the development of diseases like cancer. Due to the blueberries high levels in antioxidants, they can neutralize some of the free radicals that damage your DNA.
4 May lower Blood Pressure
Regular blueberry intake has been tied to lowering blood pressure in numerous studies.
Taking Blueberries appear to have significant benefits for people with high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. One eight week study, showed that obese people who had had a high risk of heart disease noted a 4 – 6% reduction in blood pressure after consuming 2 oz (50 gm) of blueberries per day.
5 Help Maintain Brain Function
The antioxidants in blueberries seem to benefit your brain by aiding brain function and delaying mental decline which helps improve memory functions.
Oxidative stress can accelerate your brain’s aging process considerably, by negatively affecting brain function. Blueberries appear to benefit aging neurons, leading to improvements in cell signaling. Several studies have been carried out, one involved nine senior adults with mild cognitive impairment consumed blueberry juice daily. After twelve weeks, they experienced improvements in several markers of brain function. I an extensive six year study involving over 16,000 senior individuals found that blueberries and strawberries were linked to delays in mental aging by up to two and a half years.
6 Anti-Diabetes Effects
Several studies have demonstrated that blueberries have anti-diabetes effects, improving insulin sensitivity and lowering blood sugar levels.
Compared to other fruits blueberries provide moderate amounts of sugar. One cup (148 gm) holds 15 gm of sugar, which is equivalent to a small apple or large orange. However, it’s the bioactive compounds in blueberries that appear to outweigh any negative impact of the sugar when it comes to blood sugar control. Blueberries have beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. Improved insulin sensitivity should lower the risk of metabolic syndrome and type two diabetes, which are currently two of the biggest health problems in America.
7 Protect your cholesterol
The antioxidants in blueberries have been shown to reduce a predominant risk factor for heart disease by preventing oxidative damage to bad LDL cholesterol.
Oxidative damage is not limited to your cells and DNA. It’s also problematic when your bad LDL cholesterol is oxidized. In fact, oxidation of bad LDL cholesterol is a crucial step in the heart disease process. The antioxidants in blueberries are strongly linked to reducing levels of oxidized LDL.
In several studies, it has been found that a daily serving of 2 oz (50 gm) blueberries lowered LDL oxidation by 27% over 8 weeks. Another, determined that eating 2.5 oz (75 gm) of blueberries with a main meal significantly reduced the oxidation of bad LDL cholesterol.
8 Help Prevent Heart Disease
Evidence is indicating that eating fruits rich in anthocyanins, such as blueberries is associated with a reduced risk of heart attacks.
While eating blueberries may lower blood pressure and oxidized LDL cholesterol, because heart attacks are the world’s leading cause of death. There has been a study involving 93,600 nurses and it found that those with the highest intake of anthocyanins, which is the main antioxidants in blueberries, were at a 32% lower risk of heart attacks compared to those with the lowest intake.
Because our site is only providing factual information we do need to point out that this was an observational study, it cannot prove that the anthocyanins alone caused the reduction in risk, but it’s our opinion that it’s not far off being proved.
