I’ll go ahead and put it out there now, if you are allergic to blueberries. Go ahead and skip todays post, might I suggest this post of the importance of sleep instead. For those of you not allergic to blueberries, get ready to get excited to pick some of these delicious treats up from the store.
I got inspired to write this post after reading about the blueberry and lots of other super foods in a book by Steven Pratt called Superfoods RX. I got it in the clearance section at Half Priced Books for $1 and It was so worth it. Every chapter is about a super food from nuts to kale to pumpkin. A super food is a nutrient rich food that is especially beneficial to your health and well-being. The book is a lifestyle book that gets you informed on what foods you should be consuming every day. I’ll admit that after I read the book, I felt more conscious of what I had on my plate. I wanted to be sure to consume at least 1 super food at each meal.
While I really enjoyed reading about all the super foods, I wanted to do a post today on blueberries. It’s summer time and all the fruit we love is overflowing the grocery stores and farmers markets. It’s prime time for blueberries! So this week was especially good because organic blueberries were on sale at Trader Joe’s, I got over a pound of organic blueberries for $6. Now you don’t have to but organic but I really recommend you do for blueberries especially. They are very think skinned so those pesticides will soak into the meat of the berry and you don’t want anything messing with the impeccable health benefits flowing inside. Just get organic ok?
So maybe you have eaten some blueberries in a fruit cup or indulged in a few blueberry muffins but you’ve never been a big blueberry eater. I get that, we can’t all change our habits but hopefully what I will share with you today will help change your mind. Blueberries are not just a random super food, they are up there at the tippy top of list of the ultimate super foods along with spinach. Here are a few reasons why you should try get more blueberries in your diet asap.
1.The blueberry has more powerful disease fighting antioxidants than ANY other fruit or vegetable.
Boom. I did not come to play with the blueberry facts you guys. This is real deal Holyfield. One serving of blueberries has as many antioxidants as 5 servings of carrots or broccoli. And you would much rather have one serving of blueberries wouldn’t you? I love some carrots and broccoli (also super foods) but it’s much easier to squeeze in one serving of blueberries
2.Blueberries are brain berries
For a long time blueberries went undervalued, because scientist recognized their relatively low vitamin C levels. Blueberries got to the forefront of health foods when it was discovered that blueberry consumption could slow down and even reverse many degenerative brain diseases. Adding a serving of blueberries to your diet could majorly reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s or dementia. The study to prove this was an ongoing study in rats by the USDA. The end result confirmed that blueberries contain a vital functioning antioxidant and anti-inflammatory property that affects the brain. When they moved the test to humans, it showed that humans who consumed one cup of blueberries a day had better motor skills than the group of humans who did not consume blueberries daily.
3.Blueberries fight Cancer.
First of all I am a firm believer that what you eat is the most important cancer fighting treatment you can endure. So since the blueberry is proving to be a power hitter super food, it’s not surprise these bad boys fight cancer too. One of the star antioxidants in blueberries is something called ellagic acid. Research suggests that this antioxidant blocks the metabolic pathways that can encourage cancer growth. Studies have also suggested that people who consumed foods with ellagic acid (blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries) were 3 times less likely to develop cancer than those who did not consume it.
4.Frozen, Dried or turned to jam, the blueberry does not lose power.
A lot of times with certain foods, they lose antioxidants and nutrients when you alter their natural state. Heating and cooling them to prepare to eat often times kills all the good things you got the food for, but not blueberries. For all the studies they did using blueberries to test their value, freeze dried blueberries were used. The berry did not lose its nutrient value, so a frozen one is the same level of health as a fresh one. When made into jam, the antioxidant polyphenols still lives on despite the berry being exposed to boiling temperatures. Polyphenols prevent degenerative diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease.
5.Blueberries will keep you young
As if I needed to go one about the many antioxidants in blueberries! But just one more, for those who fear aging. The phytonutrient in blueberries that give them their blue color are called anthocyanin. The darker the berry, the higher the amount of anthocyanin. Anthocyanins are mainly found in the blueberries skin, another reason to by organic. The nutrients give blueberries their anti-inflammatory abilities. Not only do anthocyanins neutralize the damage done by free radicals to the skin, they work with other antioxidants to produce more collagen.
Ok so now I can tell you are probably all jacked at raring to go with the blueberries. You are ready to get that one cup serving in a day, but how are you going to do it? I got you once again. For starters, reward yourself for reading about the mega-awesomeness of the blueberry by making this Blueberry Fig Chambord cocktail. It of ourse has blueberries so you are all good to enjoy it.
Also enjoy some of these blueberry recipes to keep your new blueberry infatuation healthy and growing!
Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal
Blueberry Zucchini Bread
Watermelon Berry Spinach Salad
Blueberry Tart
Enjoy!
By Bianca