Superfoods -> Blueberries

Now here is a SuperFood that you can take to the bank! Native to the North American landscape, blueberries are truly an All-American food. For many years nutritionists and researchers ignored the tiny blueberry because of its relatively low vitamin C content. However, what these people did not know was that the healthful benefits of blueberries stem mainly from their incredibly high levels of antioxidant phytonutrients.

Phytonutrients are non-vitamin, non-mineral components of food that have significant healthful benefits. There are literally thousands of different types of phytonutrients, and each phytonutrient is unique in both its physical characteristics and its function. Research has shown that phytonutrients help the body cells communicate with each other more efficiently, prevent mutations at the cellular level, prevent the proliferation of cancer cells, and there is still much more that we are learning about the powers of phytonutrients everyday. Blueberries are so rich in phytonutrients that even though they are not filled with the antioxidant vitamins C and E, the still provide as much antioxidant protection to the body as 1,733 IU of vitamin E and more than 1200 milligrams of vitamin C.

It is recommended that 1 to 2 cups of blueberries should be consumed daily to obtain the full health benefits of this amazing fruit. The research that really put blueberries on the map brought exciting news that this fruit seemed to slow and even reverse many of the degenerative diseases that are associated with the aging of the brain, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This is important information, considering that by the year 2050 over 30% of the American population will be over the age of 65.

Research done on aging rats has produced intriguing results, as these rats, when fed the human equivalent of 1 cup of blueberries per day, showed improvements in both balance and coordination. These improvements are due to better cell communication in the brain cells of these rats. Because blueberries are rich in phytonutrients, especially polyphenols and flavonoids, these findings should come as no surprise. Recall that phytonutrients have been shown to improve the efficiency that our body’s cells communicate with each other.

By helping our brain cells communicate more efficiently, blueberries are actually helping to halt the progression of the degenerative diseases that are associated with the aging of the brain. This is because the primary reason that humans develop age related degenerative brain diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, is because as we age our brain cells become less and less effective at communicating with each other, as the signals that these cells send out to the neighboring cells weakens over time. When these signals become too weak to allow effective communication between cells, neurological pathways are lost and brain function is thus diminished. SOURCE ARTICLE HERE