Health Benefits of Wild Bluberries

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“The world’s most powerful food is hiding on low, scrubby bushes in plain sight. I’m talking about the wild blueberry, … Do not confuse wild blueberries with their larger, cultivated cousins, which, while great for your health, don’t offer even a fraction of wild blueberries’ power.”
Source: Anthony William, Medical Medium Blog Post: 21-Jul-2017
Author NY Times Best Selling book Life-Changing Foods

 

Wild Blueberries Offer Powerful Potential Health Benefits

  • Best Antioxidant Source: Researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Center (HNRCA), compared 40 fresh fruits and vegetables and found wild blueberries rank #1 in antioxidant activity. 1,2 Wild Blueberries are packed with health promoting polyphenols. Some of the most exciting are anthocyanins, the powerful antioxidants that give the berries their distinct bluish-purple colour. These anthocyanins protect cells from the damaging effects of oxygen free radicals, that play a role in chronic conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Wild blueberry polyphenols also seem to reduce microvascular inflammation, another key factor in many chronic diseases.
  • Brain Food: Wild Blueberries may improve short-term memory loss and ameliorate age-related declines in cognitive function. In 2010, Krikorian et al.,3 published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry research indicating that daily consumption of VAN DYK’s pure Wild Blueberry Juice improved cognitive function and memory performance in older adults.3 A 2012 study4 published in Annals of Neurology looked at the effect of blueberry and strawberry consumption in 16,000 participants. The research found that people who consumed the most blueberries and strawberries exhibited less memory deterioration than those who did not eat the berries.  The benefits of Wild Blueberries have also been demonstrated in children, such as the 2015 study by Whyte et al.,5 and the 2019 study by Barfoot et al.6that showed even a single dose of wild blueberries improved memory and attention in 7 to 10 year olds.
  • Anti Diabetic:The potential benefits of Wild Blueberries in Type 2 Diabetes have been shown in many studies of the past two decades including: Martineau et al., 2006 Phytomedicine Journal7; and Stote et al., 2017 BMC Nutrient8 and 2019 Nutrients9. These and other studies indicate that the wild blue berry antioxidants have a protective effect on the Beta cells in the pancreas. These are a key cell that malfunctions to cause Type 2 Diabetes.
  • Heart Healthy: Wild Blueberry polyphenols have been studied extensively in regard to potential Cardiovascular benefits including the reduction of vascular inflammation, lowering cholesterol, and lowering blood pressure.10,11,12  In 2013 Riso et al., 13 published in the European Journal of Nutrition results of a study of middle-aged men who drank wild blueberry juice daily for six weeks had significant improvement in the health and function of their endothelial cells. Those are the specialized cells that line our blood vessels.
  • Better Bones: Wild Blueberries are rich in polyphenols which may protect bones and prevent osteoporosis. The Domazetovic Research team have published several studies14,15 showing the protective effects of blueberries on human bone health. These and similar studies suggest that the phenolic acids in blueberries may help retain bone mass and reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis.

 

References:

  1. Prior et al., Systematic Identification and Characterization of Anthocyanins by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS in Common foods in the United States: Fruits and Berries Agric. Food Chem. 2005,53, 2589-2599
  2. USDA ORAC database – http://www.orac-info-portal.de/download
  3. Krikorian et al., Blueberry Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults J. Agric. Food Chem. 2010, 58, 3996-4000
  4. Devore et al., Dietary intakes of berries and flavonoids in relation to cognitive decline. Ann Neurol. 2012 Jul;72(1):135-43
  5. Whyte et al., Cognitive effects following acute wild blueberry supplementation in 7- to 10-year-old children Eur J Nutr, epub doi:10.1007/s00394-015-1029-4), Aug 2015
  6. Barfoot et al., The Effects of Acute Wild Blueberry Supplementation on the Cognition of 7-10-year-old Schoolchildren Eur J Nutr. 2019 Oct;58(7):2911-2920.
  7. Martineau et al., Anti-diabetic properties of the Canadian lowbushblueberry Vaccinium angustifolium Phytomedicine 2006 Nov;13(9-10):612-23
  8. Stote et al., The effects of 100% wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) juice consumption on cardiometablic biomarkers: a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial in adults with increased risk for type 2 diabetes.BMC Nutr2017 May 25;3:45.
  9. Stote et al., Effect of Blueberry Consumption on Cardiometabolic Health Parameters in Men with Type 2 Diabetes: An 8-Week, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Curr Dev Nutr. 2020 Mar 9;4(4): nzaa030
  10. Basu et al.,Blueberries decrease cardiovascular risk factors in obese men and women with metabolic syndrome. J Nutr. 2010 Sep;140(9):1582-7
  11. Del Bo' C et al., Different effects of anthocyanins and phenolic acids from wildblueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) on monocytes adhesion to endothelial cells in a TNF-α stimulated proinflammatory environment. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Nov; 60(11): 2355-2366
  12. Del Bo' C et al., Anthocyanins and phenolic acids from a wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) powder counteract lipid accumulation in THP-1-derived macrophages. Eur J Nutr. 2016 Feb;55(1):171-82.
  13. Riso P. et al., Effect of a wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) drink intervention on markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial function in humans with cardiovascular risk factors. Eur J Nutr. 2013 Apr; 52(3):949-61. 
  14. Domazetovic et al., Blueberry juice protects osteocytes and bone precursor cells against oxidative stress partly through SIRT1. FEBS Open Bio. 2019 Jun;9(6):1082-1096.
  15. Domazetovic et al., Blueberry Juice Antioxidants Protect Osteogenic Activity against Oxidative Stress and Improve Long-Term Activation of the Mineralization Process in Human Osteoblast-Like SaOS-2 Cells: Involvement of SIRT1. Antioxidants (Basel). 2020 Feb 1;9(2):125