Blueberries are a delicious superfood known among nutritionists and health food buffs for their ability to reduce your age-related cognitive decline. But it turns out that these tiny berries can also provide you with another amazing health benefit – helping keep you safe from heart disease.

Experts have long been recommending blueberries as a healthy food for your brain. Anthocyanins, the antioxidant compounds that give these small, tasty berries their color are known to be able to protect your brain cells from inflammation that can lead to cognitive decline.

But a study by researchers at Florida State University (FSU) has found that blueberries can also be good for your heart due to how these antioxidants affect another compound: nitric oxide.

Blueberries can lower blood pressure and lessen arterial stiffness

In a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the FSU researchers conducted a double-blind and placebo-controlled test on 48 postmenopausal women. This group is generally considered at a greater risk for heart disease and has a higher incidence of hypertension and arterial stiffness. The women involved in the test also had either prehypertension or Stage 1 hypertension.

Of these women, one group received freeze-dried blueberry powder – equivalent to one cup of fresh blueberries – while the other received a placebo. After eight weeks, the blueberry group experienced a drop in their blood pressure. In addition, they also had a noted decrease in arterial stiffness.

In particular, the researchers noted that the women had increased their levels of beneficial nitric oxide by a dramatic 68.5 percent. Nitric oxide plays an important role in decreasing arterial stiffness by dilating and relaxing blood vessels.

Other studies have already shown that antioxidants help boost nitric oxide production.

With this in mind, the FSU researchers concluded that eating blueberries can help delay prehypertension from developing into Stage 1 hypertension, thereby reducing cardiovascular risk.

Antioxidants in blueberries give it cardioprotective properties

The FSU study wasn’t the first time that blueberries were shown to be able to lower your risk of heart disease. Another study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation showed that blueberries and strawberries together decreased the heart attack risk of participants by up to 33 percent.

As with the FSU study, the cardioprotective properties of the berries were seen to come from their high antioxidant content.

The antioxidant content of a food is measured by a scale called ORAC, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. Blueberries have a truly phenomenal ORAC score of 9,621, making them one of the most antioxidant-rich foods in the world.

This makes them one of the best foods to consume if you want to boost your antioxidant intake – as the FSU study showed, just the equivalent of one cup of blueberries a say for two weeks was already enough to experience their cardioprotective effects.

Healthy baking with blueberries

On top of their high antioxidant content, one other great thing about blueberries is how versatile they are. You’ll be spoilt for choice when looking for ways to include blueberries into your diet.

That said, one problem is that many of these recipes that include blueberries, often come in the form of pastries that can have high sugar content.

Good thing then that blueberries’ delicious taste means you don’t need to add much sweetener to any blueberry recipes. Takes these healthy blueberry muffins. These use a natural sweetener – either manuka honey or maple syrup – to compliment blueberries’ flavor in place of processed sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup manuka honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (6 ounces) blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F. While preheating, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1 3/4 cups of flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (save the extra teaspoon for later). Mix them together with a whisk.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and manuka honey or maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined.
5. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 1 teaspoon flour to help prevent them from sinking to the bottom. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. If you want, you can sprinkle raw sugar on top of the muffins.
7. Bake the muffins for 16 to 19 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
8. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool.

Blueberries are an amazing and delicious superfood known for their high antioxidant content. Add more blueberries into your diet so you can experience their protective benefits for your heart as well as your brain.

Sources:

NaturalHealth365.com

JANDOnline.org

ScienceDaily.com

CookieAndKate.com