Blueberries are good for the heart, study hints

By Megan Rauscher, Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating blueberries, as part of a healthy diet, may help ward off several key risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, such as an accumulation of belly fat, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, according to research reported Sunday at the Experimental Biology conference in New Orleans.

The health benefits of blueberries are thought to be due to their high levels of phytochemicals - naturally occurring antioxidants called anthocyanins found in darkly pigmented fruits and vegetables.

"In the long-term Women's Health Study, it was shown that women who had diets high in anthocyanins had a significantly reduced risk for heart disease," University of Michigan research scientist E. Mitchell Seymour told Reuters Health. In studies involving overweight rats, Seymour and colleagues looked at the effects of adding freeze-dried blueberry powder to a low-fat and a high-fat diet. "We looked at things that are relevant to heart disease," Seymour explained, "like total body fat, abdominal fat, blood lipids (fats), and the body's ability to manage blood sugar levels and we found that they were affected by the blueberry."

After 90 days, rats fed the blueberry powder had less abdominal fat and lower levels of cholesterol and harmful triglycerides than control rats that weren't fed any blueberry powder.

Blueberry-fed rats also had improvements in blood sugar levels and in how their bodies used insulin to process sugar for energy - both of which could help keep diabetes at bay.

The benefits of a blueberry-rich diet were more pronounced when combined with the low-fat diet, as compared to the high fat diet, "but the majority of those benefits were still present even in a higher-fat, more typical American diet," Seymour said.

The study was supported by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.
© Copyright (c) Reuters


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When we think of Blueberries, most of us think of delicious deserts such as pies and cobbler. Some think of homemade jellies. These are all good, but the best way to eat blueberries is either whole or blended in a smoothie.

Blueberries have 32% of the daily value of Vitamin C, 20% Manganese, 15% daily fiber, 7% Vitamin E and only 81 calories per cup.

Fresh is always best, but blueberries freeze well too. Wash, drain and remove any bad berries. Spread the blueberries on a cookie sheet and put into the freezer until just frozen. Then move to a freezer bag or other freezer container.

Blueberries have many antioxidants that neutralize free radicals which cause cell damage.
They have more antioxidants then cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums or oranges.
This is measured on the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity)

Blueberries improve brain function and reduces the effects of Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

Blueberries protect against colon and ovarian cancer as well as the other cancers.

Blueberries aid in diarrhea and constipation. They promote a healthy urinary tract.

Note: Persons with an existing kidney or gallbladder condition may want to avoid blueberries. Persons with Diabetes should note that 1 cup of blueberries has 14.74 grams of sugar.

This website was created to benefit the people that join us for our local monthly meeting in learning about health and how important the decisions we make everyday determines our future.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

Our group is led by two people that contribute so much. They are Maynard Good and Gail Marner. Maynard owns a local Blueberry Farm and Gail owns a Holistic Health Care Office.

Feel free to join our group if you are in the area of Northern Indiana or simply to follow
our website. We will post notes from each meeting and add new information periodically.



Any questions, you can call
Maynard Good – 574-875-5697
Gail Marner – 574-825-5140
Michelle Dyer – 574-848-9858

Disclaimer: We are not diagnosing or treating any diseases or other health ailments.
We recommend you to follow any information you see here with your best judgement and at your own risk.
We believe there is a lot of information on the internet and in the media that people need to find what works best for them.