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Blueberry Antioxidants

Antioxidants In Blueberries

An apple day may keep the doctor away, but adding some blueberries to your diet that are rich in antioxidants can improve not only your immune system, but your over all health as well.

What Are Antioxidants & Why Do You Need Them?

Antioxidants are compounds or nutrients found in the matrix of the foods we eat, which can help prevent or slow oxditive damage that happens as we age. You see our immune system begins to slow down as we age, and our once robust cells that naturally produced lots of healthy “free radical scavenger cells” to fight off the oxditive damage of “free radical cells” begin to decline. So, as we age our bodies begin to make fewer and fewer of these necessary cells to fight off the harmful “free radicals”, as a result we begin to experience more health problems. Many common conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, macular degeneration, strokes, and cancers are thought to be associated with “free radicals” that damage cells causing the related health problems.

Antioxidants in blueberries have been linked in studies involving: anti-aging, anti-cancer, memory loss, and heart-health benefits. One study showed that the fruits of blueberry plants could improve motor skills in some individuals, as well as reverse the short-term memory loss that comes with aging and age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Many other fruits and vegetables were studied, but only the blueberry fruit were effective in improving motor skills. Buy Blueberry bushes to grow your own sweet blueberries at home , delicious and healthy.

Lowfat Blueberry Recipes:

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Apple Blueberry Crisp

8 servings

4 apples
2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour/ Bisquick in a pinch
1 cup regular rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons canola oil

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8” or 9×9” dish with cooking spray or rub with butter.

2.     Wash, core and chop apples. No need to peel them. Put in cooking dish with blueberries.

3.     In another small bowl, mix flour, oats, sugar and oil until crumbly. Spread evenly over fruit.

4.     Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until bubbly.

5.     Serve as is, whipping cream, vanilla ice cream, or with low-fat frozen yogurt.

Just make sure it totals about 5 cups of fruit.

Lowfat Blueberry Recipes can be found throughout the web.

Research Studies:

Journal of Medicinal Food, 2005 Mar; 8(1): 8-13

Journal of Medicinal Food, 2009; Feb; 12 (1): 21-8

Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 2009, Jan 19.

Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 2006 17(2): 109-116

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