Blueberry Attributes  

Worldwide, research labs are finding evidence that blueberries are an important part of a healthy diet, can reduce ageing and improve memory. 

Recent studies are hailing blueberries as the reigning king of antioxidants,
disease fighters that also help slow down the outward and inward effects of ageing. Blueberry's have the highest overall antioxidant score of some 40 fresh fruits, juices and vegetables tested. Antioxidants help neutralize harmful free radical damage that can lead to cancer and other age related diseases.

Using a test called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), researchers have shown that a serving of fresh blueberries provides more antioxidant activity than many other fresh fruits and vegetables.  These oxygen radicals, which can damage cell membranes and DNA through a process known as oxidative stress, are blamed for many of the dysfunctions and diseases associated with ageing.

 The neuroscientists discovered that feeding blueberries to laboratory rats slowed age-related loss in their mental capacity, a finding with important implications to man.

In one study, Jim Joseph, director of the neuroscience laboratory in the USDA Human Nutrition Center (HNRCA), fed blueberry extractions, the equivalent of a human eating one cup of blueberries a day, to mice. He then ran them through a series of motor skills tests. The blueberry-fed mice performed better than their control group counterparts in motor behavioral learning and memory and he noticed an increase in exploratory behavior. When he examined their brains, he found a marked decrease in oxidative stress in two regions of the brain and better retention of signal-transmitting neurons compared with the control mice.

The chemical that appears responsible for this neuron protection, anthocyanin also gives blueberries their color and might be the key component of the blueberry’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Preliminary results show that people who ate a cup of blueberries a day have performed 5–6% better on motor skills tests than the control group.

iAfrica dot com reports:
 

Enjoy your Blueberry's!

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