Blueberries Health Benefits

New studies make it clear that we can freeze blueberries without having done damage to their delicate anthocyanin antioxidants. There is no doubt about the delicate nature of several antioxidant nutrients found in blueberries. These antioxidants include different styles of anthocyanins, the colorful pigments that provide many foods their wonderful shades of blue, purple, and red. After freezing blueberries at temperatures of 0°F (-17°C) or lower for amounts of time between 3-6 months, scientific study has discovered no significant lowering of overall antioxidant capacity or anthocyanin concentrations. Anthocyanins studied have included malvidins, delphinidins, pelargonidins, cyanidins, and peonidins. These findings are great news for anybody who grows, buys, or picks fresh berries in season and wants to enjoy them all year round. They are also great news if you has restricted usage of fresh blueberries but sometimes find them in the freezer part of the market.


Among the few fruits indigenous to North America, blueberries are actually enjoyed by Native Americans for hundreds of years. They have also enjoyed great popularity worldwide in cuisines from Asia on the Mediterranean. For more about the Healthiest Way of Preparing Blueberries, see below.

What's New and Beneficial Facts Blueberries

After many years of research on blueberry antioxidants along with their potential benefits for the central nervous system and for brain health, there is exciting new evidence that blueberries can improve memory. In a very study involving older adults (with an average ages of 76 years), 12 weeks of daily blueberry consumption was enough to further improve scores on two different tests of cognitive function including memory. While participants inside study consumed blueberries in the form of juice, three-quarters of a pound of blueberries were utilised to make each cup of juice. As participants consumed between 2 to 2-1/2 cups every day, the participants actually received a really plentiful amount of berries. The authors of the study were encouraged from the results and suggested that blueberries might come to be beneficial not only for improvement of memory, but for slowing down or postponing the start other cognitive problems frequently connected with aging.

In terms of U.S. fruit consumption, blueberries rank only second to strawberries in availability of berries. Blueberries are not only seen popular, but also repeatedly ranked inside the U.S. diet as having one of several highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings. Antioxidants are necessary to optimizing health by helping combat the free-radicals that can damage cellular structures along with DNA. We recommend enjoying raw blueberries - rather than relying upon blueberries utilized in baked desserts - because, like other fruits, raw blueberries provide you with the best flavor and the greatest nutritional benefits.

Berries generally are considered low in terms of their glycemic index (GI). GI is a very common way of identifying the possible impact of a food on our blood sugar level once we've consumed and digested that food. In general, foods using a GI of 50 or listed here are considered "low" in terms of their list value.

When compared to other berries, blueberries aren't particularly low in regards to their GI. Research shows the GI for blueberries as falling somewhere inside range of 40-53, with berries like blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries repeatedly scoring closer to 30 than to 40. However, legally to have that included blueberries as a low-GI fruit has found that blueberries, along with other berries, clearly possess a favorable impact on blood sugar regulation in persons already clinically determined to have type 2 diabetes. Participants inside study who consumed eventually 3 servings of low-GI fruits every day (including blueberries) saw significant improvement inside their regulation of blood sugar over a three-month time period. (Their blood degrees of glycosylated hemoglobin, or HgA1C were used because standard of measurement in this study.) It's great to find out blueberries providing these clear health benefits for blood sugar regulation!