Study Says Berries May Substantially Lower Women’s Heart Attack Risk
A new Harvard study finds that women who eat three or more servings of blueberries and strawberries each week may reduce heart attack risk by as much as 33%.
Researchers credit anthocyanin, a dietary flavonoid found in these colorful berries, for improving blood flow and countering plaque build-up.
According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women — more deadly than all forms of cancer combined. This latest research indicates that a simple change in diet could have major implications for what is one of today’s biggest health challenges. It also expands the list of berry benefits, which includes brain health, cancer prevention, and lowered Type 2 diabetes risk.
Just before the debut of his now-popular TV show The Doctors, pediatrician Jim Sears talked to Wild About Health about wild blueberries, nutrition, and nutritional research. He reminded us that 200 years before we even knew what Vitamin C was, sailors ate lemons and limes to help prevent scurvy while they were at sea. While the sailors didn’t know the science behind what they were doing, they did know their health improved when they did it.
In some ways, consumers today are very much like those sailors. We know that the reason wild blueberries are so healthy has a lot to do with their high antioxidant capacity. But why does that help us live longer? Is it a mysterious, super-powerful anthocyanin, or is it, more likely, a balance of many compounds that work together? What else is there in wild blueberries that we haven’t even discovered yet? And if we already know they are good for us, is it really important to know why?
The Buzz About Phytos
A large amount of today’s interest in food nutrition revolves around phytonutrient (also known as phytochemical) research. The term “phytonutrients” is used to refer to the many compounds in plants that give them color, flavor and resistance to disease. They are the micronutrients beyond the more commonly known nutrients, such as proteins,fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Some of the phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables work to provide disease protection, some act as anti-inflammatories, and some activate genes that fight cancer.
While we are used to associating foods with certain vitamins and minerals (a banana is known to be high in potassium, for example) we are less likely to associate foods with one of the hundreds of phytonutrient compounds that work to defend us against specific diseases and help us live longer. Some day, as research accumulates, perhaps we will. You may even recognize a few now (we have discussed them many times on this blog). They include anthocyanins, known for their ability to stop free radical damage, pterostilbene, known for its cholesterol lowering properties and resveratrol, known for its heart healthy properties. Wild blueberries, for example, contain nearly 100 of these compounds. They are concentrated in the berry’s intensely-colored skin, and they provide them with their blue color.
Fruits and vegetables demand attention in the lab and on our plates largely because of phytos. Researchers attempt to isolate them and understand the mechanism that prevents disease, some in order to treat disease more effectively, others with the goal of putting them into supplement form and selling them to consumers. No matter the objective, scientific research is a long and often difficult road, requiring the time and funds to replicate studies and gather data that turns cutting edge science into common knowledge. Even when there is enough evidence to support that a certain phytonutrient works specifically to fight disease in a certain part of the body, we still may not understand exactly how.
Phytonutrients contain mysteries that are yet to be uncovered. But if we already know that fruits and vegetables that contain phytos are good for us, why must we know more? Why not leave research in the lab, and continue to be like those sailors at sea?
1) Finding the Right Dose
According to Dr. Robert Krikorian, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at University of Cincinnati, dose is an important issue in the ongoing studies into nutrition. His research into the connection between wild blueberries and cognitive ability indicates that there are reasons to believe lower, easily achievable doses can be effective in treating disease. That means regular servings of fruits and vegetables – not super doses or supplementations – are enough to make positive changes and correct deficits that are the result of a poor diet over time.
Krikorian’s message is an important one for those who may feel moderate amounts of berries, for example, won’t make a difference to their health. They may give up on nutritional efforts altogether because they are unable to afford healthy foods, have little access to them, or are not motivated enough to eat them. Understanding the power of doses, through nutritional research, can make big differences in how we think about food and how we act to mitigate today’s nutritional challenges.
2) Providing Doctors with Confidence
When doctors are armed with evidence that nutritional behaviors work, they will have the confidence to prescribe healthy food to patients faced with preventable and reversible disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, and a myriad of others. While diet suggestions can be common in the doctor’s office, the shift to making food a disease prevention Rx has yet to reach its tipping point.
The growing body of evidence that diet has the potential to reduce chronic disease risk and promote healthy aging can reinforce, for doctors and consumers alike, that food can in fact be used as medicine. Doctors routinely come face to face with patients dealing with the repercussions of being overweight, for example – much of one’s risk of Type 2 diabetes depends on weight. According to Dr. Daniel Nadeau, Medical Director of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Associates of Maine’s York Hospital, preventing and even treating chronic disease that results from excessive weight begins with food choices. For his patients, he depends on food as prescription, and inspires them with his knowledge that making better choices works.
3) Understanding Gene Expression
While we have yet to offer widespread access to individual gene mapping, soon it will be commonplace. Mapping our genome can help us find out whether we are at risk for certain diseases so we can take action. Because research indicates that phytonutrients act on gene expression, eating the right foods to provide a defense for health vulnerabilities can help us proactively prevent or delay disease. If you have a family history of Alzheimer’s, for example, early research indicates that eating wild blueberries could help prevent and delay the onset of damage to the brain as you age.
Studies conducted by Dr. Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, Professor of Clinical Nutrition and lead researcher from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine, Orono, have shown wild blueberries may help prevent vascular complications associated with hypertension and they may also affect gene expression. She and her team found that the berry may aid in the maintenance of a functional endothelium – the thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels. While this may seem like arcane information only of interest to those in lab coats, in fact, studies like these are helping provide the key to our future cardiovascular health. Understanding that it is not simply antioxidants in wild blueberries that provide the benefit but the action of a certain bioactive compound can help us unlock the door to a major health concern.
Until We Know More
Even without a map of your genome or an Rx from your doctor, it’s smart to begin a healthy diet of daily servings of functional foods to provide a path to prevention. Beginning a healthy eating regimen before disease sets in is more effective than waiting until the damage is done. And, while studies that aim to isolate phytonutrients in foods and identify the mechanism behind their benefit are ongoing, one thing is certain: a diet that includes a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables, particularly those with deep pigments, can improve health, prevent disease, and promote healthy aging. Study after study confirms it. There is simply no reason to wait for researchers to compile more evidence to start implementing this advice now, whether we fully understand the science behind it or not.
Recent Studies You Should Know About
In Maine, the Bar Harbor Group dedicates itself to continuing nutritional research as it relates to berries. Each year, researchers and scientists from around the country gather to share ongoing research and findings about nature’s most promising foods. In past years, presentations have included research involving disease prevention and anti-aging, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. We’ll keep you posted about this year’s summit, which took place this summer.
Wild Blueberries May Protect DNA From Damage
Juice made from wild blueberries may reduce oxidative damage to DNA by around 3% and decrease the risk of cardiovascular and degenerative diseases, suggests new data.
Berry Pigments Show Heart Health Benefits
Increased intakes of anthocyanins – antioxidant pigments from fruit and vegetables – may reduce blood vessel hardening and improve overall heart health, says a new study.
Study Unlocks Cholesterol-lowering Activity of Blueberry
The potential cardiovascular benefits of blueberry may be related to the berries’ anthocyanins interacting with bile acids to promote cholesterol reduction, suggests data from a study with hamsters.
Read more of the most recent research into the benefits of blue, including studies about vision, gut health, cancer prevention, and diabetes.
Eating fruits and vegetables – widely across the color spectrum – can yield tremendous benefits when it comes to our health and disease prevention efforts. But there are some advantages to eating deeply colored, antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies that may not be on our radar. You can consider these five unexpected benefits just a healthy bonus for eating well. They might even provide a little extra motivation to get your servings.
1. Benefits for Runners
Runner’s World recently reported on a couple of outlandish food benefits especially for runners. One is eating blueberries. (The other is, surprisingly, beer.) A study from Appalachian State University showed that runners who ate a cup of blueberries every day had less inflammation and oxidative damage before and after their run. It’s no surprise – these antioxidant leaders are known to have a major impact on cellular inflammation. The powerful anthocyanins in the berries actually protected them from the after-effects of challenging workouts and helped recovery. If you are in training, eating a cup of anthocyanin-rich berries will help boost your performance and get you in shape for that marathon – or your next workout.
2. Help Quitting Smoking
New studies show there are major benefits associated with eating many types of fruits and veggies if you are trying to quit smoking. The reason is not just limited to replacing a bad habit with a healthy one. First, fruits and vegetables don’t trigger a desire for nicotine, and unlike some foods like meat and alcohol, they don’t enhance its flavor – they actually make it taste worse. Another reason that fruits and veggies can serve as a secret weapon for those trying to quit might be the satiety fruits and vegetables provide. It can help lessen the desire to smoke, and high fiber choices can contribute to that effect. (Fruits and veggies that are high antioxidants also provide protection against lung cancer and respiratory ailments, which can benefit smokers and former smokers.)
3. Prevent Depression
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of depression. Substantially so, according to the Mayo Clinic. Fruits and veggies that are deep in color and fiber-rich provide the most intense benefit. Also, B vitamins are a major weapon against depression because they help balance mood and even treat depression in those experiencing it (Vitamin B6 is found in many foods including bananas and spinach). Vitamin C (oranges, berries, leafy greens) has also been shown to enhance mood and stave off depression. Further studies have linked depression and wild blueberries. In 2010, a study conducted by a team led by Dr. Robert Krikorian, Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, confirmed that a diet supplemented with wild blueberries improved memory function and mood in older adults and could decrease depression in the elderly.
4. Change Your Friends…and the World
Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables can be contagious. We mimic the habits of those we hang around with, which is why recent studies have indicated that obesity is contagious and our social circles affect our weight. Studies indicate that if you start eating better your friends will start eating better, not to mention the affect it will have on your family. If your diet is being sabotaged by your friends’ or co-workers’ bad habits, see what being a positive influence can do to those around you. If you are an influencer, your passion for fruits and veggies could actually start a badly-needed revolution of better health around the nation.
5. More Mojo
It may not be the first reason you change your eating habits, but it could be a reason to continue. Improving your love life can actually be a side effect of eating more fruits and vegetables. According to Slim Calm Sexy Diet author Keri Glassman, indulging in certain fruits like peaches, for example, can increase male hormone production and regulate thyroid function that helps increase libido for both men and women. Fruits and vegetables have the benefit of not just being good for us but boosting our energy and controlling our weight, which translates into feeling more amorous. And, foods high in nutrients, folic acid, potassium, and antioxidants translate into increased energy – and you can channel that in whatever way you’d like.
Learn what specific nutrients contribute to good health at Fruit and Veggies More Matters. You’ll also find out which fruits and vegetables provide the best sources of the nutrients you need.
Last month, Midcoast Maine was a hotbed of exciting, innovative research into some of the most urgent areas of health. Bar Harbor, Maine hosted the 14th annual Wild Blueberry Research Summit this August, an event devoted exclusively to continued research into the role of wild blueberries in critical areas of health.
At the Health Summit, top scientists from the U.S. and Canada, collectively known as the “Bar Harbor Group,” come together each year to present compelling new data to substantiate the connection between a blueberry-rich diet and prevention of diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and diabetes. This year’s Summit once again delivered on the promise of this heralded little fruit.
Widely known as a “brain food” because of its positive effect on brain health as well as for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant abilities, the wild blueberry continues to be under the microscope as it expands its nutritional promise into areas such as metabolic syndrome, heart and blood vessel health, and diabetes. Researchers who participate in the Summit share current findings from clinical trials and pilot studies, and explore opportunities for future collaborations as they relate to the the berry’s disease-fighting potential.
More than ever, at the heart of this year’s Summit was the impact of diet on our health, our medical care, and our communities. With a nation that is collapsing under the burden of obesity and nutrition-related health issues, it is an important time for nutritional research. The idea that some of the answers to a considerable community health crisis could be found in a little blue globe of fruit is as remarkable as it is exciting. At the center of these discoveries are leading U.S. and Canadian researchers who are active in the fields of neuroscience, aging, cardiovascular disease, cancer, eye health and other health-related areas. Meeting together in Maine, in the middle of wild blueberry country after the harvest season, is particularly fitting.
Part of the compelling new research presented at the Summit included work from Dr. Robert Krikorian of the University of Cincinnati into the connection between wild blueberries and cognitive ability. Krikorian reported on two clinical studies which investigated the effect of a diet supplemented with wild blueberry juice on memory and brain function. Adults in the study had Mild Cognitive Impairment, a risk condition for Alzheimer’s disease.
Krikorian and his team treated subjects with 15 to 21 ounces of wild blueberry juice per day. Mood and memory were tested, and findings indicated that the subjects had improved recall and improved learning after 12 weeks. While these early findings require more study, initial results suggests a relationship between the regular consumption of blueberry juice and improved brain function.
Other research presented at the Summit included work from Barbara Shukitt-Hale from the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging concerning memory and motor function, Dr. Ana Rodriguez-Mateos of the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the U.K.’s University of Reading into wild blueberry consumption and blood vessel function, and Dr. Catherine M. Champagne, Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology/Dietary Assessment at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge into the positive effect of blueberry diet on insulin sensitivity. You can read about some of the Summit’s highlights by reading Annual Health Summit Reveals Promising Benefits of Wild Blueberries.
Each time the Bar Harbor Group comes together, the excitement in the nutritional and scientific fields intensifies. While some of the studies presented at the Summit are in their beginning stages, sharing pilot studies and ongoing clinical trials with such significant potential is the key to moving nutritional research forward and understanding the connections between wild blueberries and disease – especially when they concern diseases that have such a widespread and devastating effect on our population.
Studies into wild blueberries and diseases of aging have already yielded important results. In fact, it’s been since 1998 that these researchers have gathered in Maine to share their data, and past Summits have revealed studies that found positive connections between wild blueberries and satiety, insulin sensitivity, and depression. (Find out more about what we already know about the health benefits of wild blueberries.)
Scientists who study health and nutrition are passionate about understanding wild blueberries’ potential in preventing age-related diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. To what extent they can prevent or forestall these diseases is the mission of researchers like those in attendance at the Summit this year.
It’s an exciting time for the wild blueberry! Find information on research from this year’s Summit at WildBlueberries.com, or read more about the scientists that make up the Bar Harbor Group and their work in the field of disease prevention and healthy aging.
