Spring has finally sprung in my neck of the woods and that means that I have fresh produce on the brain! It will be a few months before the blueberries and strawberries are in season and at our local U-Pick places but in the meantime I get the benefit of lower prices at the grocery store on our family favorites– blueberries and strawberries!
My kids–and my husband– love blueberries and did you know that blueberries are considered to be one of the top “superfoods” to eat for optimal nutrition? Even though they are little, they are packed with health benefits that make them worth much more than foods twice their size. Read on find out just how helpful it can be to include blueberries in your diet!
I love to stock up on blueberries when they are on sale or in season and then I use them in baking and as toppings to our cereal and waffles. The benefits of eating blueberries are numerous but here are 7 reasons to get you started!
1. Blueberries are the best food to eat for antioxidants. Compared to all other foods, blueberries have the largest capacity of antioxidants, which are very beneficial to your entire body. If you are looking to increase your health naturally, definitely increase your intake of blueberries!
2. Blueberries help with your anti-aging wishes. Because they are loaded with antioxidants, these berries will help to reduce wrinkles, age spots, and other blemishes. They help to protect your skin from every day toxins so you don’t look older than your age!
3. Blueberries help lower your risk of cancer. Anthocyanins, which give blueberries their dark blue hue, fight free radicals in the body. These toxins come from our food, environment and other sources, so there’s really no way to avoid them. Left to wreck havoc on our bodies, they can damage cells and cause us to get cancer. However, with the compounds in blueberries, you can help reduce the amount of free radicals in the body – in turn, decreasing your risk of cancer.
4. Blueberries help keep your urinary tract clean and functioning properly. A urinary tract infection is typically painful and downright unpleasant. By consuming blueberries, their antioxidants can prevent the bacteria present in these organs from attaching to the tissues inside them – which is what causes the infection.
5. Blueberries can improve our brain health and slow down memory loss. The berries help our brain with their high amounts of gallic acid. This compound assists our bodies by protecting the nervous system. It can safeguard the brain from degeneration, basically slowing down the process of getting old and losing our memory and cognitive functions.
6. Blueberries can help to regulate your digestion. Because they contain high amounts of dietary fiber, blueberries are very beneficial to our digestive system. Fiber is necessary to stay regular and keep foods we ingest moving through the organs until we expel the waste. Compounds in blueberries also help promote helpful bacteria growth in the intestines. Bonus: The dietary fiber found in blueberries is also good to help prevent heart disease!
7. Blueberries can aid in healthy weight loss. Just as the dietary fiber in blueberries can regulate your body, it will also fight hunger cravings and make you feel full longer. Plus, the natural sweetness of the berries helps calm sugar cravings, so you don’t reach for the chocolate or candy when you want a snack!
And the best part? They taste GREAT! How do you eat blueberries? Do you bake with them, add them to cereal or eat them right out of the container?
Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipe
Want to freeze your fruits and veggies?
I love blueberries and to hear these awesome benefits makes me love them even more. Great Post. Blessings to you!
We have a blueberry patch nearby. It won’t be long and it will be time to pick! I love to freeze them.
What a great list of the health benefits of blueberries! Our family loves to eat them! We used to live near a pick-your-own farm that we went to in the summer. Oh, how we will miss that this year as we are not near one. But, we will still be munching on them. Thanks for the recipes too.
I am also a fan of the blueberry, put them on my cereal every morning. and that recipe for the blueberry bread looks so good and easy, will try making it. found you on This is how we roll
Blueberries are such fruit we all appretiate for their taste, but we all learn their health benefits as well, great post. thanks for sharing.