7 Benefits of Blueberries When Taken Regularly

Jun P. Espina         11 min read

Updated on June 25th, 2022

The 7 Benefits of Blueberries When Consumed Daily

The benefits of blueberries may include degenerative health issues like heart diseases, metabolic syndrome (e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.), impaired immune function, neurological (Alzheimer’s, dementia) disorders, poor cognitive function (memory loss), fatigue, eyesight issues, obesity, and cancer.

Blueberries are known to contain potent phytonutrients (plant chemicals) with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other properties essential in boosting our DNA and immune health. Powerful anthocyanins represent the major red, purple, and violet pigment in many plants and fruits and the purplish deep-blue skin in blueberries.

Wrote Wilhelmina Kalt, et al. on the benefits of Blueberries: “Blueberries contain a large number of phytochemicals, including abundant anthocyanin pigments. Of their various phytochemicals, anthocyanins probably make the greatest impact on blueberry health functionality. Epidemiological studies associate regular, moderate intake of blueberries and/or anthocyanins with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, death, and type 2 diabetes, and with improved weight maintenance and neuroprotection.” [1]

The Benefits of Blueberries Cover Their Health Role in Chronic Diseases

Luyao Ma, Zhenghai Sun, et al. also confirmed that “Blueberry is rich in flavonoids (mainly anthocyanidins), polyphenols (procyanidin), phenolic acids, pyruvic acid, chlorogenic acid, and others, which have anticancer, anti-obesity, prevent degenerative diseases, anti-inflammation, protective properties for vision and liver, prevent heart diseases, antidiabetes, improve brain function, protective lung properties, strong bones, enhance immunity, prevent cardiovascular diseases, and improve cognitive decline. The anthocyanins and polyphenols in blueberry are major functional ingredients for preventive chronic disease. These results support findings that blueberry may be one of the best functional fruits, and further reveals the mechanisms of anthocyanins and polyphenols in the health role of blueberry for chronic disease.” [Emphasis supplied.] [2]

Table 1: Illustrates the Functional Ingredients for Preventive Chronic Disease in Blueberry.

[▸ Source of Table 1]

1. May Help Keep Your Heart Healthy

We find in Table 1 that the functional ingredients in blueberry for heart disease are anthocyanins, procyanidin, polyphenols, and cardiovascular diseases (heart disease and those issues affecting the blood vessels), phenolic acids, and flavonoids. These nutrients and phytochemicals found in blueberries are understood in layman’s terms easily if we factor in polyphenols—the biggest group of phytochemicals—contained in this superfood.

Polyphenols are antioxidants phytochemicals from which flavonoids are a member of the polyphenol family, and anthocyanin, a type of flavonoids.

Polyphenols give the plant color, taste, and protective layers against diseases, and pests, and “help protect them in many different ways.” The four main types of polyphenols are (1) lignans (e.g. seeds); (2) stilbenes (e.g. dark chocolate, red wine); (3) phenolic acids (e.g. cinnamon, clove, oregano); and flavonoids (e.g. wine, green tea, many fruits and vegetables). [3]

One study shows the activities of blueberries in reducing the risk elements for cardiovascular disease. A cup of these fruits (or 150 grams) daily proves to work by up to 15 percent. [4]

2. Blueberries are Proven to Support Eye Health

Eye Vitamin. Visual acuity may be improved by eating blueberries or their capsulized concentrates. Anthocyanin pigments prove to “enhance night vision or overall vision.” [13] Blueberry is second only to cloudberry for having the highest total carotenoid content among berries. “All berries had lutein but it was a predominant carotenoid in blueberry,” which is an eye vitamin. [14] Lutein and zeaxanthin carotenoids are eye-nourishing phytonutrients that reduce eye fatigue and improve night vision. The coaction of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin and the flavonoids anthocyanins proves blueberries’ health-giving benefits for eye sharpness.

3. May Lower the Risk of Cancer

Colon Cancer. Blueberries contain the highest content of anthocyanidins (a subclass of flavonoids), and research shows these “Berry phenolics have protective effects in relation to colon carcinogenesis.” [15] The powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of blueberries elicited a reduction, according to research, in intestinal inflammation and colon tumorigenesis. The anthocyanins of bilberry reduced the symptom of adenomatous polyposis, “a condition characterized by multiple intestinal polyps potentially developing to carcinomas.” [16] Blueberry has higher anthocyanins than bilberry. [17]

Effective Against Carcinogenesis. Mary Ann Lila wrote that “anthocyanins have demonstrated marked ability to reduce cancer cell proliferation and to inhibit tumor formation . . . interfere with the process of carcinogenesis . . . inhibit tumorigenesis by blocking activation of a mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. In other research, fruit extracts with significant anthocyanin concentrations proved to be effective against various stages of carcinogenesis.” [18]

Berries chemopreventive and therapeutic responses against cancer through the following mechanisms and modes of action. [19]

• Anti-oxidative action (Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) sequestration).
• Effects on enzymes of phase-I and -II.
• Cell-cycle arrest.
• Induce apoptosis (cell suicide).
• Anti-proliferation/Anti-survival of cancer cells.
• Anti-inflammatory action (stop cell inflammation).
• Anti-angiogenesis (block new blood vessels for cancerous tissues).
• Metastasis inhibition (induce cancer cell dormancy).
• Cell adhesion and movement inhibition (check the spread of cancer).

How Do Berries Interrupt the Inflammation/Oxidative Stress Cycle?

The Benefits of Blueberries May Include the Reduction of the Risk of Breast Cancer

Fight Breast Cancer. A recent study conducted in New Zealand proves that breast cancer’s cellular abnormalities could have been avoided or at least minimized with regular consumption of these fruits. “Women might be able to reduce the risk of breast cancer by eating more blueberries, according to a New Zealand research.” Wrote Janyawat Vuthijumnonk, “Blueberries contain phytochemicals called anthocyanins, which may be responsible for the health benefits of blueberries. They reduce free radicals in our system, decrease new blood vessel formation and increase the number of beneficial bacteria—all elements which help in the fight against breast cancer.” [20]

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/health-science/article/2000201652/researchers-say-a-blueberry-diet-can-lower-breast-cancer-risk

More Research Needed. Laboratory studies show the many phytochemicals, the powerful antioxidant compounds, and the anthocyanins stuffing blueberries that have anticancer effects and the potential for DNA damage protection. Blueberries have the properties to suppress inflammatory and oxidative processes. They inhibit cancer cell proliferation and cause apoptosis in cancer cells. Oxidative stress which results in oxidative DNA damage marks the development of different cancers. More studies are needed, though, to understand the complexities of blueberry’s role in cancer prevention.

4. May Help Control Blood Pressure

“Daily blueberry consumption may reduce blood pressure and arterial stiffness, which may be due, in part, to increased nitric oxide production.” [21]

5. Blueberries May Help Obesity and Diabetes

One cause of obesity is the lack of a healthy gut microbiome. Good gut bacteria feed on prebiotics from the soluble fibers we ate. Chia seeds and flaxseed are prebiotics (they feed our gut microbiome) better than any probiotic supplement given the possibility of dead lactobacillus acidophilus inside its capsules. The second cause is excess consumption of sugary food like grains (bread), soda, and fruit drinks. Third is stress, lack of exercise, no restful sleep (stage 4) during the night, and sedentary life. One author said: “Move or Die.”

Study shows that “Blueberry phytochemicals may affect gastrointestinal microflora and contribute to host health. . .. In a study with high-fat–fed rats, blueberry intake moderated the negative effects of the high-fat diet on inflammation and insulin signaling and also led to modification of the gut microbiota.” [24]

The Benefits of Blueberries May Include the Lowering of the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

“Blueberries are a rich source of polyphenols, which include anthocyanin bioactive compounds. Epidemiological evidence indicates that incorporating blueberries into the diet may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM). These findings are supported by pre-clinical and clinical studies that have shown improvements in insulin resistance (i.e., increased insulin sensitivity) after obese and insulin-resistant rodents or humans consumed blueberries.” [25]

6. May Reduce Cognitive Decline

In Table 1, we pointed out the polyphenols (the family of flavonoids and anthocyanins) in blueberries as one antioxidant phytochemical that helps boost cognitive function. The declining memory retention that we experienced as we age may be curbed by eating this super fruit regularly. It is a part of the benefits of blueberries.

“Blueberries,” reported Robert Krikorian, et al., “contain polyphenolic compounds, most prominently anthocyanins, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In addition, anthocyanins have been associated with increased neuronal signaling in brain centers mediating memory function as well as improved glucose disposal, benefits that would be expected to mitigate neurodegeneration. We investigated the effects of daily consumption of wild blueberry juice in a sample of nine older adults with early memory changes. At 12 weeks, we observed improved paired associate learning (p = 0.009) and word list recall (p = 0.04). In addition, there were trends suggesting reduced depressive symptoms (p = 0.08) and lower glucose levels (p = 0.10).” [28]

7. May Help Boost the Immune System

In Table 1, we wrote about the “functional ingredients” that mark the benefits of blueberries. The natural antioxidant properties of these super fruits (namely: the polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and their related synergistic nutrients and chemical compounds) can stabilize harmful molecules in the body known as free radicals (or molecules having unpaired electrons).

Free radicals cause illness and aging.

These free radicals are abnormal cells (highly reactive and unstable molecules) that damage normal cells in the body. Inhalation of toxins like tobacco smoke, for example, can trigger a free-radical attack on your healthy cells (or those having paired electrons). Consuming blueberries regularly may help subdue free-radical attacks (or the “stealing” of electrons from healthy cells).

The Benefits of Blueberries Hinged on the Highly Powerful Antioxidants They Contain

Eating antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruits like blueberries is essential in extending one’s healthspan.

“Exposure to UV light, cigarette smoke, and other environmental pollutants also increases the body’s free radical burden. The harmful activities of free radicals are associated with damage to membranes, enzymes, and DNA. The ability of antioxidants to destroy free radicals protects the structural integrity of cells and tissues.” [30]

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