Wild Blueberry Research You Should Know About

New Diet, Cancer & Bowel Health Studies You Shouldn’t Ignore

According to Dr. David B. Agus, author of The End of Illness, we are on the cusp of a health revolution.

Through biomedical engineering, understanding our DNA, and mapping the proteins in our blood, we’ll know 1) our predisposition for a variety of illnesses 2) our nutritional deficiencies, and 3) our nutritional prescription for preventing those diseases. According to Agus, this revolution will endow us with the data we desperately need to optimize our individual health.

If we’re lucky, such personalized medicine will be available in our lifetime. But until we all have access to our biological profile, along with the sound medical advice to parse the data and allow us to individualize our nutrition, we must opt for the best health and nutrition advice we have – the kind known to work best for a broad population.

We know that improving the way we eat can be the best preventative medicine. Real foods deliver nutritional benefits the most efficient, safest way: without shortcuts. While we wait for science to help deliver the perfect, tailored preventative diet, eating real food to get the nutrition we need, and staying up-to-date about new technologies that can improve our health is our best strategy.

Part of that strategy includes absorbing health research that applies to you. Not sure what does? You probably already know a lot about your personal health. You may know if you have a genetic predisposition to certain illnesses. You know if you are experiencing health challenges. You also know that you are committed to prevention that will lengthen your life.

That knowledge is the first powerful step toward creating your own personal health profile and eating a diet that prevents and battles illness.

Health News That Might Just Be Crucial to Your Health

What recent research impacts your personal health? The following list includes some valuable new research about health, and their common denominator is wild blueberries. Their anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and powerfully concentrated nutrients make wild blueberries an ideal Rx for general prevention, as well as for body weight issues, maintaining heart health, bowel and digestive problems, and a particularly rare form of breast cancer.

Body Weight & Heart Health. Torching belly fat is not just a matter of looking good– there’s much more at stake than fitting into your skinny jeans. Belly fat is an indicator that you may be at risk of heart disease and type-2 diabetes. Belly fat boosts inflammation and hardens arteries. And, If your waist size is more than half your height, you’re at higher risk for developing diabetes. Phytonutrients, which are responsible for the dark pigment in fruits like blueberries, are uniquely helpful in lowering the risk of heart disease and type-2 diabetes. Wild blueberries in the diet also correlate to lower cholesterol and improved glucose control, and offer concentrated nutrition for few calories (just 42 belly-flattening calories in ½ cup).

Bowel Health. If bowel health is a concern for you, you are among thousands of suffers. As Western diets proliferate throughout the globe, the numbers appear to grow. A new report published in Nutrition
about the nutrition and bowel health connection provides some promising news for those suffering with a common bowel disorder, Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Recent research shows broccoli or blueberries (both were studied in this research performed on mice) may decrease bacteria strains, reduce e. coli, and improve intestinal damage. Colon inflammation tended to be lower for both broccoli and blueberry-fed mice, and tended toward being even lower for those fed blueberries.

This comes on the heels of research into blueberry and gut health that shows that wild blueberries may support intestinal balance and may be helpful in increasing beneficial bacteria (particularly in studies of blueberry powder).

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. We reported this groundbreaking City of Hope study in a recent post,  which explains the promising conclusions that blueberries may slow down the growth of, or stop, triple-negative breast cancer tumors. Triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer. It doesn’t respond to traditional cancer treatment, and there are few effective drugs available to combat it. Such a discovery would have a major impact on those with this devastating disease, and those at risk for it.

But there’s no need to wait to start a disease-fighting regimen: there is overwhelming agreement in the scientific community that efforts to lower the risk of breast cancer should involve eating blueberries, along with a variety of fruits and vegetables. Initial studies credit, again, phytochemicals, found in uniquely high concentrations in wild blueberries, for evidence that they might suppress the proliferation and migration of these cancer cells in humanly-consumable doses. In a world of quick-fix supplements and bottled nutritional tinctures, that a preventative for this deadly form of cancer is widely available seems nothing short of a miracle.

A Bit About Wild

While some research focusing on the power of blueberries utilizes the high-bush berry, many target the wild blueberry, or low-bush blueberry, for their nutritional research. Rightly so. It is important to understand that the smaller wild blueberry (wild blueberries will always include the “wild” moniker) has advantages that the cultivated, or high-bush blueberry doesn’t. If you are interested in amplified nutrition (not to mention amped-up taste), choosing the smaller, nutritionally-concentrated wild is essential.

Wild blueberries have a long health history. They are an indigenous fruit grown wild in barrens of Maine and parts of Canada for hundreds of years, and their natural resistance nurtured by rugged soil and challenging weather has made them an enormously powerful fruit with naturally intense nutritional benefits. There is simply no reason not to choose wild—wild blueberries have an increased concentration of these beneficial phytonutrients, and that means you are consuming more health benefits per serving. Opting for berries other than wild is a nutritionally senseless compromise.

An Ounce of Prevention: Today’s Pound of Cure

While scientists continue to conduct research into cures for challenging illness, they often come up with more mysteries. As many nutrition researchers indict environment, Western diets, and genetics, cures remain elusive. It is prevention that will lengthen our life. Fortunately, prevention is achievable by taking advantage of the readily available foods that surround us, both in their fresh, and equally beneficial frozen states.

Until we can take targeted preventative measures based on our personal health profile, health and nutrition gained through real foods offer their own innate, naturally powerful benefits. Eating wild blueberries as part of a broad color spectrum of fruits and vegetables, may be one of the best preventative tactics we have available to us.

Cancer Study Follow-Up: Report Brings Key Nutritional Messages to Light

Food as Medicine & Colorful Diet at the Heart of New Study, Says Nutrition Expert Susan Davis

This week, Wild About Health shared a new study from researchers at the City of Hope in Los Angeles that showed the positive effect of blueberries on triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer that typically responds poorly to treatment. (Read our post, Exciting Study Ties Blueberries to Breast Cancer Prevention, where you’ll also be able to view the video and hear from the researchers firsthand.) Today, we’re following up on this compelling study with Nutrition Advisor Susan Davis, MS, RD, who provides insight into its promising results and helps us parse its nutritional message.

The investigation into the health benefits of blueberries was familiar to researchers Shiuan Chen, Ph.D  and Lynn Adams, Ph.D. A 2010 study into the cancer-fighting properties of the fruit prompted them to refer to blueberries as one of the most potent and popular disease fighters available. Previous research has focused on the powerful phytochemicals in blueberries that counter the damage of free radicals, and this latest study took the inquiry one step further. “Our results demonstrate that blueberry consumption can greatly reduce the growth and spread of an aggressive form of breast cancer,” said Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., director of the Division of Tumor Cell Biology at City of Hope and senior author on the paper that will appear in the October issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

Such promise for a particularly deadly form of a challenging disease generated excitement for those interested in the topic of breast cancer as well as those in the fields of health and nutrition. While the study’s focus was on blueberries – already known for their disease-fighting properties – the true message of the study, said Nutrition Advisor to the Wild Blueberry Association Susan Davis, MS, RD, is not necessarily to urge people to eat more blueberries, but to help advance a vital health message that still needs spreading.

Wild About Health was fortunate to have Davis weigh in on the study. Davis is a member of the Bar Harbor Group, a collective of U.S. and Canadian researchers who are active in the fields of neuroscience, aging, cardiovascular disease, cancer, eye health and other health-related areas who regularly share their research findings and explore opportunities in blueberry and berry nutritional health and research. The group met this past August to share new research into the connection between blueberries and Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and diabetes.

Susan Davis, MS, RD

Davis said the City of Hope study was significant both in the dramatic performance of blueberries and because of their effect on many markers for breast cancer. Not only did tumor size decrease by 75%, but metastases, or the spread of cancer, was also decreased. In addition, mechanisms were identified to explain how blueberries could have these effects, an important step forward in understanding the connection between health and these superfood components.

The study’s applicability to all diets also reinforced an important message of food as medicine, Davis said. “The fact that the amount of fruit consumed is achievable in ordinary diets shows the power of foods in helping prevent disease,” she told Wild About Health. Researchers like Chen and Adams and those who are part of the Bar Harbor Group continue to make strides toward isolating components in food that could help prevent cancers and diseases of aging, providing more scientific evidence that we should view food as “treatment” for disease as well as use it defensively as a preventative for disease and the effects of aging.

According to Davis, studies like this one solidify this message for the public and help contribute to a cultural understanding that can save our lives and contribute to our longevity: that what we eat makes a significant difference in how we look, how we feel, and how healthy we are. She said that it’s a message that has not been fully adopted in this country. “Many other cultures look to foods and herbs to treat illnesses and honor their bodies,” she said. “In the U.S. we are slow to get the message.” While many of us are taking nutritional measures to preserve our health, others continue to miss the clear connection that exists between food and our wellness.

“Get the colors on your plate at every
meal, and make one of them blue,”
advises Susan Davis.

Davis said another important aspect of this study’s subsequent report and analysis is the message reiterated by its researchers concerning the effects of food synergy. Because fruits and vegetables contain very different compounds that complement each other, it’s important to understand that one will not provide all the health benefits we need. Instead, these components work together, in ways we don’t yet understand, to augment their singular effects. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, variety truly is the key to healthy eating, and that’s another message worth hearing again and again.

“Berries are powerful sources of protective compounds and the blues are one of the best.  A good way to judge how healthy your diet is, is by color,” said Davis. “Get the colors on your plate at every meal, and make one of them blue.”

Have you made one of the colors on your plate blue today? Find out more about why you should get your daily dose of blue.

New Video! Exciting Study Ties Blueberries to Breast Cancer Prevention

There is no more exciting time in the world of blueberry research. The nutritional potential of blueberries, particularly wild blueberries, is high and building as we find out more and more about the natural disease preventing chemicals sheathed by that dark blue skin.

Now, a new study conducted by researchers at the City of Hope in Los Angeles provides an encouraging connection between the nutritional benefits of this powerhouse fruit to breast cancer prevention, isolating a specific link to a very aggressive form of the disease.

Watch Blueberries: A Triple Threat Against Triple-Negative Breast Cancers from the City of Hope and hear firsthand what the researchers have to say about this important study.

The study builds upon an infrastructure of previous research into the effect of phytochemicals, naturally occurring substances that are highly concentrated in blueberries and are present in other fruits and vegetables. Phytochemicals neutralize free radicals and help prevent cell damage, which prevents diseases of aging and types of cancer.

This promising study reports on the effect of blueberries on a type of breast cancer referred to as triple-negative. Triple-negative breast cancer is difficult to treat and has a high mortality rate compared to other types of breast cancers.

The study was conducted by researchers Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., and Lynn Adams, Ph.D and will be published in the October 2011 issue of The Journal Of Nutrition. In terms of the connection between triple-negative breast cancer and the effect of blueberries, the report includes the following outcomes:

  • inhibited proliferation of triple negative cells
  • increased death rate of bad cells
  • inhibited metastatic potential, or migration of cells
  • inhibited tumor growth

The details of the results of the study can be found at The Lempert Report.

We know that blueberries contain phytochemicals, and according to co-researcher Dr. Shiuan Chen, we already have the evidence that blueberries can help to suppress the proliferation and migration of cancer cells. Still outstanding is actually defining what the active chemicals are that act on these cancer cells. But the results of this initial study remain very exciting. Because the study was conducted with blueberry powder fed to mice, it must, of course, be replicated in humans, but one encouraging factor was the achievable amount of blueberry intake involved. It is common to hear of studies involving amounts of food that would be impossible to consume. Here, the dose required to achieve results was equivalent to two cups of fresh blueberries per day, something reasonable for consumption by humans.

Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women during their lives. Anticipating more definitive research into this important cancer, particularly into this very aggressive form, is very exciting. There are few effective drugs for triple-negative breast cancer, and lowering mortality rates would have an enormous impact on the population with the disease and for those who are at risk. But there’s no need to wait to start a disease-fighting regimen: there is overwhelming agreement in the scientific community that efforts to lower the risk of breast cancer involve eating blueberries and a variety of fruits and vegetables, according to co-researcher Dr. Lynn Adams. To get variety in your diet, use the rainbow as your guide. The different colors of fruits and vegetables provide diverse forms of phytochemicals, which appear to act in synergy with one another to prevent disease. Blueberries, specifically wild blueberries, which have a higher ORAC score than cultivated blueberries, are the best way to integrate the blue-purple color of the spectrum.

The fact that foods which could provide anti-cancer benefits are readily available is a valuable message for consumers. We are lucky that this convenient, delicious fruit is available frozen in grocery stores all year, providing all the nutrition of fresh. Start getting your two cups per day. You’ll be doing something good for your body and making strides toward disease prevention.

A lot is happening in the world of nutrition research! Find out more about the exciting new research into the health advantages of wild blueberries, and read the latest news about how blueberries can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.