Delicious in muffins, delectable in pancakes and tasty munched plain, blueberries aren’t just a scrumptious treat; they’re also a superfood. Under their waxy, navy skin, blueberries are bursting with helpful antioxidants and vitamins. When next you’re seeking an on-the-go snack or flavor-packed addition to a dish, consider incorporating blueberries to reap these benefits.
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1. Provides Antioxidants
Blueberries owe the beautiful color from which they derive their name to the presence of phytochemicals. The phytochemicals, found naturally in blueberries, serve as antioxidants and help prevent free-radical damage to cells. Antioxidants always work better when consumed in naturally rich foods instead of taken in supplement form, so skip the pills and down some blueberries.
2. Offers Needed Nutrients
Like their sibling fruits and cousins, vegetables, blueberries offer a host of healthful nutrients. These indigo beauties are rich in B-vitamins, which help your body convert food to energy. They are also packed with vitamins C and E, as well as minerals including zinc, iron, selenium and potassium. All of these nutrients work together to help all of your body’s organs function properly, making you an overall healthier person.
3. Slows Aging
Blueberries are the richest natural source of proanthocyanidins. Proanthocyanidins is a specific phytonutrient that has been tied to decreases in free-radicals associated with aging. While munching on blueberries won’t entirely prevent you from having to slather on wrinkle cream later in life, it also won’t hurt.
4. Helps Weight-loss
If you’re trying to watch your waistline, blueberries are a great option. These bite-sized fruits are low in calories – containing only about 80 in one full cup – but high in fiber. This means that they will keep you feeling fuller longer, making it much easier for you to just say no to snacking.
5. Supports Bone Health
Although most people worried about the health of their skeletons turn to calcium-rich foods like milk, blueberries are also powerful players in the war on bone health. These berries contain iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin K. All of these components contribute to the overall health of your skeletal system. Iron and zinc in particular serve an important function, helping to maintain the elasticity of your joints.
6. Reduces Allergies
For allergy sufferers, snacking on blueberries could have a surprising benefit. Blueberries contain the phytonutrient, quercetin. This phytonutrient has been proven to reduce the severity of some allergies. So, while you shouldn’t trust that chomping a lunch-time handful of blueberries will alleviate your allergies entirely, making blueberries a regular part of your diet could have an overall positive effect.
7. Lowers Your Blood Pressure
Blueberries aren’t just good for your blood pressure because of what they DO contain. They’re also great as a result of what they DON’T have in them. Blueberries are a naturally sodium-free food. They also contain potassium, magnesium and calcium, all of which have been tied to natural reductions in blood pressure.
8. Reduces Heart Disease Risks
Particularly if you’ve got a family history of heart disease, consuming blueberries regularly is a simple and tasty step to maintaining your overall health. Many components found in abundance in blueberries support your overall heart health.
The fiber in blueberries helps your body reduce the rates of cholesterol, which can in itself help you prevent heart disease. Additionally beneficial, the vitamin B6 and folate that blueberries contain help prevent the build-up of homocysteine, a potentially problematic component that can damage blood vessels and, ultimately, lead to heart problems.
9. Aides Digestive Health
Blueberries help naturally keep your digestive tract running as it should. Consumption of these high-fiber berries can help naturally reduce constipation, prevent the development of digestive disorders and ensure regularity in the overall functioning of your digestive tract.
10. Prevents Cancer
Another phytonutrient that’s abundant in blueberries is ellegic acid. This particular phytonutrient has been tied to cancer prevention. It is believed that it encourages the body to seek out and fight damaged cells – like cancer cells – which could mean that those blueberry snacks will provide more than just a fill-me-up, but also a preventative edge.
11. Keeps Diabetes in Check
When consumed as part of a balanced diet, blueberries can be helpful in the management of diabetes. The same fiber that makes blueberries a digestive-tract friendly food contributes to this advantage. Studies show that diabetics who consume high-fiber diets have lower blood glucose levels. Fiber-packed blueberries make a tasty addition to any high-fiber diet.
12. Eases Headache Pain
If you often find yourself fighting a headache, blueberries could prove a worthy army of allies. Blueberries are rich in salicylic acid. This compound is often referred to as a natural form of aspirin as it, like aspirin, slightly thins blood, often resulting in a reduction of pressure and pain.
13. Reduces Inflammation
For sufferers of inflammation-related pain, blueberries could also be of assistance. Consumption of blueberries has been tied to an increase in heat-shock proteins, which naturally decrease as people age. These anti-inflammatory benefits can prove particularly helpful to sufferers of arthritis.
14. Prevent Muscle Damage
For heavy exercisers – or just the generally uncoordinated – muscle damage is a constant risk. The same components in blueberries that help reduce inflammation may prevent damage to muscles. These components in blueberries work at the molecular level and hasten your muscle healing, which minimizes the lasting effects of any damage you do sustain.
15. Fight Urinary Tract Infections
Although most people swear by cranberries when trying to naturally ease a urinary tract infection, blueberries could be just as good if not better. These fruits contain the same anti-adhesives as cranberry juice, meaning that they too could help you fight off infections of the urinary tract.
16. Prevent Memory Loss
If you want to make sure your mind remains a steel trap, eating blueberries could help. Studies have suggested that the antioxidants in blueberries accumulate in areas of the brain in which intelligence is centered. This means that downing those handfuls of blueberries on a regular basis could help bolster your mental power and ensure that you stay sharp farther into the future.
17. Increases Levels of Happiness
Being – and feeling – healthy is all about keeping everything in balance. One of the chemicals in your brain that’s pivotal to feeling emotionally great is dopamine. Blueberry consumption has been 
tied to an increase in dopamine levels, which means that snacking on blueberries could leave you feeling as all-round better mentally as they do physically.
18. Tastes Delicious
While tasting delicious may hardly seem a health benefit – it actually is. Because blueberries are naturally delicious, they are something that you actually want to eat.
This naturally pleasant flavor punch increases the likelihood that you consume blueberries often, ensuring that you reap all of the myriad benefits associated with incorporating this food into your meal or snack-time routine.
