Blueberry Love – Bursting with Flavor…and Health

Escape with me from the summer heat for just a moment. Grab a basket, take off your shoes and let the grass poke through your toes as you walk to the patches of wild blueberry bushes. As you’re picking the ripe, juicy fruit and popping the flavorful berries in your mouth, you’re also doing great things for your body. For their tiny size, blueberries are jam-packed with amazing levels of nutrition that can work in your body to:

• Prevent cancer

Loaded with phytonutrients (beneficial plant components that science is still discovering) the blueberries’ anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, resveratrol, flavonols, and tannins can block pathways that develop cancer

• Lower blood sugars

• Reduce cholesterol

Blueberries are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants–manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K. A recent study showed that supplementing a plant-based diet with just 2-4% of blueberries, significantly reduced total and LDL cholesterol.

• Improve memory and slow decline of Alzheimer’s disease

Individuals who drank blueberry juice daily or consumed blueberries showed significant improvement in learning and recall, showing that components in blueberries may strengthen and stimulate brain cells.

• Lessen symptoms of depression

• Prevent urinary tract infections

Blueberries contain the same compound found in cranberries that helps to keep away UTIs, by preventing bacteria from “sticking” and developing infection

• Protect and improve vision

• Reduce inflammation

A daily serving of blueberries or juice can help reduce pain and inflammation levels throughout the body, an underlying root of most chronic disease development

With all these amazing benefits, it’s no wonder blueberries are now being named a “super-food” that “increases the body’s ability to heal.”