Wild Blueberries: 11 Distinct Anti-aging Benefits from a Tiny, Potent Berry

Do you ever feel you have unacceptable brain fog or feel like you are aging faster than you should be? We certainly did when we had advanced Lymes and prions.

We looked for ways to preserve and enhance our cognitive powers.

One of the things we’ve done (to support other interventions) for the last 4-5 years is eat wild blueberries – lots of them. We buy quantities of them frozen in 1 pound bags at our Trader Joe’s (or search a store by state here).

Get your printable elderberry syrup recipes!

Wild Blueberries Health Benefits are Well Studied:

Studies of wild blueberries keep coming in, and for good reason! Studies show they:

Act as antioxidants that can prevent many degenerative diseases with daily consumption
Protect the retina from the sun’s UV rays
Kill viruses/inhibit triglycerides and are protective of the liver
Contain brain-building anthocyanins with strong anti-inflammatory effects
Promote recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage
Prebiotic that modifies gut microbiota
Are an anti-obesity food by down-regulating fat-accumulating genes
Strongly reverse age-related cognitive deficits
Contain polyphenols that improve cerebral blood flow and blood vessel function
May lower the risk of type 2 diabetes
Stimulate osteoblasts and strengthen bones

The Medical Medium claims: “One of the world’s most powerful foods is hiding on low, scrubby bushes in plain sight. I’m talking about the wild blueberry. There is not a cancer that wild blueberries cannot prevent, nor a disease known to humankind that they do not protect you from. Do not confuse wild blueberries with their larger, cultivated cousins, which, while great for your health, don’t offer even a fraction of wild blueberries’ power.”

Wild blueberry plants can be burned to the ground, and they will come back stronger than ever. Few other foods on the planet have the ability to thrive on such acidic, low-fertility soils through long and cold, harsh winters. And in their struggle to survive their environment, they develop special strength and attributes we can benefit from.

For more in depth, read: The Story of Wild Blueberries – Thousands of Years in the Making

Wild Blueberries Have Power in Their Pigment

Anthocyanins are the plant compounds found in the skin of the wild blueberry that give them their beautiful blue hue.

Extensive research shows anthocyanins have potential antitumor effects including:

antioxidant
anti‐inflammation
anti‐mutagenesis
inhibiting proliferation
stimulating apoptosis or autophagy of cancer cells
anti‐metastasis
reversing drug resistance of cancer cells
increasing their sensitivity to chemotherapy

Wild blueberries have 2x the antioxidants of ordinary blueberries (which is saying a lot!)

Wild Blueberries have 33% more anthocyanins than ordinary blueberries -another huge boost when it comes to keeping your brain and body running strong.

Antioxidants get rid of the free radicals in the body, while fighting the inflammation that leads to long-term chronic disease and aging.

“Using ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) testing, USDA researcher Ronald Prior, Ph.D., found that a one-cup serving of Wild Blueberries has more total antioxidant capacity (TAC) than 20 other fruits and veggies, including cranberries, strawberries, plums, raspberries and even cultivated blueberries.” (source)

Mean Scores for Total ORAC µmol TE/100 g and TP mg GAE/100 g) http://www.orac-info-portal.de/download/ORAC_R2.pdf (pg. 20)

Chart of health benefits — (See source with a magnifier)

This new study demonstrates that wild blueberries can affect kids’ cognitive brain function and mental performance, not just adults. Adding these brightly colored fruits is a way to get beneficial flavonoids into children, and they taste so good!