The idea of healthy eating usually brings up visions of green juice, flavorless dinners, and supplements you can't pronounce. Wouldn't it be great if eating well was as simple as adding a cup of blueberries to your daily routine? Who doesn't like blueberries? They’re sweet, juicy, low in calories, and highly nutritious. This is why they’re considered a superfood. There are tons of reasons to love these tiny but mighty berries.
And in today’s post, we will tell you about them. From fighting premature aging, improving gut health, and brain function, helping muscle repair to support wound healing, and more, read till the end to learn about all of them.
#1. Lowers Blood Pressure: Maintaining low sodium is essential to keeping blood pressure at a healthy level. Blueberries are free of sodium and contain potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Studies have shown that diets low in these minerals are associated with higher blood pressure and eating the correct amount of these minerals can help reduce it.
What habits increase your blood pressure? Is it bad food? Stress? Anger? Tell us quickly down below in the comments section.
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#2. Maintains Healthy Bones: Blueberries contain iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and vitamin K. Each of these is an essential component of good bone health. Adequate intake of these minerals and vitamins contributes to building and maintaining bone structure and strength. Iron and zinc play crucial roles in maintaining the strength and elasticity of bones and joints. Low intakes of vitamin K have been linked to a higher risk of bone fracture. However, adequate vitamin K intake improves calcium absorption and may reduce calcium loss.
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#3. Fights Premature Aging: Blueberries are high in antioxidants, which help fight cell-damaging free radicals. In particular, they’re high in plant compounds known as anthocyanins, which have strong antioxidant properties that give blueberries their natural purple-blue hue. As you age, your body’s ability to fight off free radicals declines, which can wreak havoc on your cells, especially your skin cells. They begin to weaken and show signs of aging. A diet high in antioxidants, like blueberries, is associated with fewer signs of aging and better skin quality.
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#4. Improves Insulin Sensitivity: Blueberries can help those who experience insulin resistance, such as people with type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance occurs when the pancreas produces too much insulin, and cells stop responding properly. Remember, blueberries contain anthocyanins which have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. A study found that people who ate blueberries had at least 10% improvement in insulin sensitivity which means they’re a great choice for those with diabetes. One important thing though, it is important not to exceed the recommended number of carbohydrates per meal. That's because the body breaks carbohydrates down into sugar. People with diabetes should get 45% of their daily calories from carbohydrates. One cup of blueberries has about 21 grams of carbs.
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#5. Improves Gut Health: Blueberries contain prebiotics, which is a type of dietary fiber that can promote gut health. Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates that feed the healthy bacteria living in the gut. It's important for healthy bacteria to flourish, and crowd out any harmful bacteria that enter the digestive tract. Without a sufficient amount of good bacteria, bad bacteria increase, causing inflammation that can affect your immune system. Interested yet?
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#6. Improves Heart Health: Heart disease remains the top killer of both men and women in the US, and blueberries may offer some potent protection. Due to their ability to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, they protect against artery hardening, a condition that ups the risk of heart attack and stroke. One study found that people who ate blueberries showed improvements in artery function, including reduced stiffness, as well as positive changes in cholesterol. The results conclude that blueberries should be included in dietary strategies to reduce heart disease risk.
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#7. Better Brain Function: A review found that blueberries can improve delayed memory and executive function in children. It also protects delayed memory, executive, and psychomotor function in older, healthy adults and adults with mild cognitive impairment. Delayed memory deals with long-term retention and the ability to recall information. Executive function involves skills that enable a person to plan, focus attention, and juggle multiple tasks. The psychomotor function has to do with the body and brain working together, like hand-eye coordination. Blueberries are also the only fruit singled out in the MIND Diet which combines aspects of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. This creates an eating plan focused on brain health, specifically the prevention of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. In a study, those who ate the most blueberries and strawberries experienced the slowest rates of cognitive decline.
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#8. Helps Muscle Repair: The wear and tear put on muscles during exercise triggers exercise-induced muscle damage, or EIMD. The effect can result in increased muscle soreness, reduced muscle force, and hindered athletic performance. However, what athletes eat before or after exercise can potentially offset this. In one study, athletes who drank a blueberry smoothie before a strenuous session had a faster rate of muscle recovery compared to those who didn’t. The outcome concludes that blueberries can accelerate muscle repair.
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#9. Reduces Risk of Cancer: By now, you understand that blueberries are loaded with antioxidants. In fact, they're believed to have one of the highest concentrations of these disease-fighting compounds out of all fruits and veggies. Antioxidants protect your body from free radicals, which include cancer-causing molecules. Research also suggests that blueberries and blueberry juice have the power to reduce DNA damage, which is a major cancer culprit.
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#10. Aids Weight Loss: A healthy weight not only improves your overall health but offers so many additional side benefits. Blueberries, with their high fiber content, can decrease weight gain which leads to obesity. Research shows that excess body fat increases the risk of at least 12 different cancers, including mouth, lung, stomach, and colorectal. Blueberries add fiber, water, vitamins, and minerals to our diet. The fiber not only sweeps through the body’s system; when combined with the fruit's water content, it keeps us feeling full. Dieting is hard work, and we need all the assistance we can get.
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#11. Healthier Skin: A diet high in blueberries is associated with better heart health and circulation, which is important for skin health. Your heart pumps blood throughout your body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells, as well as to remove waste from them. Your skin is exposed to the external environment, which typically involves UV rays, pollution, cuts, and bruises. And it needs nutrients and oxygen to heal and repair. Eating 1 cup or about 148 grams of blueberries per day can help improve your body’s ability to send nutrients and oxygen to your cells. This ultimately results in healthier skin. While blueberries can give you healthier skin, there are other foods that can wreak havoc on it.
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#12. Supports Wound Healing: If you have a cut, minor burn, or blemish, eating blueberries may help it heal. They are high in vitamins C and K, both of which are important for wound healing. One cup of blueberries provides a minimum of 16% and 24% of your daily needs for vitamin C and vitamin K, respectively. Additionally, when the skin is damaged, it experiences acute inflammation and oxidative stress, which is when free radicals outnumber antioxidants. The high antioxidant content of blueberries can help fight free radicals, potentially helping speed up the healing process. However, never apply blueberries or other foods directly to open cuts or burns, as this can lead to a bacterial infection.
HERE'S HOW YOU CAN ADD BLUEBERRIES TO YOUR DIET AND EAT THEM YEAR-ROUND:
Blueberries are so protective, they deserve a place in your diet even when they’re out of season. To enjoy them all year, you can freeze fresh blueberries or buy frozen bags with no added ingredients. If you have a bounty of fresh berries from your local farmer’s market or store, freeze what you can’t eat.
Here's how to freeze them: Wash the berries and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet so they don’t touch and clump together. Freeze for 30 minutes, remove, and then transfer to freezer bags. Remove as much of the air as possible, seal, label, and freeze. Your stash will keep for about six months. Add frozen blueberries to smoothies, or thaw in the refrigerator to add to anything from oatmeal to garden salads. You can toss slightly mashed blueberries into flat or sparkling water, along with fresh mint or basil, or freeze them in ice cubes to add color and nutrients to your glass. Incorporate them into overnight oats and parfaits, and add them to healthy pancakes and baked goods, acai bowls, and chia puddings.
For a quick and nourishing treat, make a simple mock cobbler. Warm the berries on the stovetop over low heat with freshly grated ginger, and top with a crumble made from a combo of almond butter, oats, and cinnamon. Blueberries also work well in savory dishes. Add them to hot or chilled wild rice or quinoa, kale salad, black bean tacos, or jam and chutney made with onions and herbs. Aim for a minimum of two cups of blueberries per week, but eating more is just fine. While blueberries are a great superfood, there are other superfoods out there that you should eat regularly.
What’s your favourite way to add blueberries to your diet? Do you prefer smoothies? Pie? Or something else? Let us know in the comments section below!
The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should never use content in my writing as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or another qualified clinician. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if indicated for medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog. Thank you.