10 Aug All About the Health Benefits of Blueberries
Health Benefits of Blueberries
🔵🔵🔵Blueberries. If you dislike blueberries maybe reading this short text might convince you on what you’ve been missing all this time, at least when your health is the concern. 👇👇👇
I used to dislike blueberries. I grew up around them. I helped my family harvest them. Amongst other things, I don’t know why I hated the taste of blueberries.
Then I grew a bit older, I began to like blueberries. Yes just like that. Growing up made me like and eat blueberries. Now I savor blueberries. From the boy who used to hate and not eat blueberries, to trying to eat blueberries until finally liking the taste of blueberries. So what made me like blueberries?
It’s because it is so healthy. It is what I call the fountain of youth. Because of these properties, many studies have been conducted to explore the potential relationship between the components found in blueberries and other berries and the prevention of chronic diseases.
For today’s blog I want to discuss two things. Why I dislike blueberries and why I got to like blueberries.
There’s this concept called food aversion effect. I got to understand why I dislike blueberries upon knowing about this concept. 🔵🔵🔵Blueberries helps support healthy living.
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🔵 Understanding Food Aversion and Overcoming it
A study published last month by Dana Small of Yale University has demonstrated that when it comes to food there’s a physiological reason why familiarity increases preference for the first time in humans.
When you ingest something all these hormones are released. Your blood glucose changes, you've all these metabolic effects that are critical for changing the brain's representation of flavour. If you experience a novel flavour and experience positive post-ingestive effects, then the next time you ingest that flavour you'll find it better and will be more likely to eat more of it.
-Dana Small, Yale University
Some people (especially kids) are simply more food neophobic – less accepting of new tastes – than others. We can measure that. But otherwise, flavour preferences are learned. One of the secrets of homo sapiens' success is that we're naturally omnivorous. We can get nutrition from many sources.
-Paul Rozin and Jane Kauer, Psychology Professor of Pennsylvania University
Health Benefits of Blueberries
🔵 🔵 🔵 What makes blueberries a fountain of youth?
✅ High in antioxidants
✅Fights Cancer
✅Supports Weight Loss
✅Boosts Digestive Health
✅ Alleviate inflammation
✅ Promotes healthy living
✅ High in Antioxidants
Three medical terms to understand the benefits of antioxidants in our body. These are resveratrol, metabolism, and free radicals.
The body has built-in defenses to reduce the impact of free radicals, but it could use some help. That’s where antioxidants come in. These molecules bind to free radicals, “thereby potentially reducing harm to molecules such as DNA. Once bound to antioxidants, free radicals are no longer free to bind with—and potentially damage—parts of your cells.
-Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
🔵 What are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are compounds found in food that stop or delay damage to the cells. They are naturally found in many foods, especially plants. They help ward off cell damage by “cleaning up” or removing waste products in our cells, called free radicals before they can do harm. Antioxidants are released from the foods we eat through digestion and travel through the bloodstream and into cells where they do work on free radicals.
- Lauri Wright, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., Assistant Professor of nutrition at the University of South Florida
🔵 What is the role of Metabolism?
Humans and other organisms maintain their structure and function by chemical reactions. All the chemical reactions needed to sustain life are collectively known as metabolism.
✅ Boosts Digestive Health
Gastrointestinal health thought to improve with berry consumption. The phenolic compounds in berries inhibits the growth of several intestinal pathogens such as Salmonella and Staphyloccus.Berries may reduce incidence of ulcers. Even other berries could be used to develop functional foods for gastrointestinal health.
- http://www.lsuagcenter.com
✅ Anti-neurodegenerative agents
One of the infamous medical practitioner, Dr. Sinclair has done a research that one of the great health benefits of resveratrol is slows aging, anti-aging, longevity or prevent aging-related diseases. In human studies, large-scale studies have shown increased intake of berries reduces the risk of cognitive decline seen with aging. -http://www.lsuagcenter.com
-Dr. Sinclair, Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People (health.harvard.edu)
🔵 Resveratrol
Blueberries have resveratrol. Resveratrol is part of a group of compounds called polyphenols. They're thought to act like antioxidants, protecting the body against damage that can put you at higher risk for illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. It's in the skin of red grapes, but you can also find it in peanuts and berries. You may already consume a fair amount of resveratrol. It’s found in foods such as peanuts, pistachios, grapes, red and white wine, blueberries, cranberries, and even cocoa and dark chocolate. The plants from which these foods come to make resveratrol to fight fungal infection, ultraviolet radiation, stress, and injury.
-health.harvard.edu
🔵 What are Free Radicals?
Free radicals are constantly being formed during metabolism. Without antioxidants, they would destroy our bodies very quickly. This is the mechanism behind antioxidants. They donate electrons to free radicals, which neutralizes them and prevents them from causing harm. This awareness has led to a tremendous increase in the proportion of fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidant molecules on the dining table in the last two decades, but still the risk of chronic health problems refuses to decline, rather it upsurged with an enhanced vigour, giving rise to a very important question—why?
Free radicals' is a general term used for compounds that are highly reactive, which means that that can attach and bind to and ultimately damage normal cells in the body, such as DNA. Free radicals can be caused by outside sources, such as smoking or toxins, but a lot of them come from normal metabolism in the body. Thus, we can control them to some degree—for example not smoking or overeating—but not entirely. Free radicals are most often implicated in cell damage that leads to cancer development.
-Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
🔵 Do we need Free Radicals?
That's the bad news about free radicals. The good news is that they also serve a vital role in the body's normal function. Among other things, they help kill invading bacteria and also play a role in cell signaling, telling cells to start or stop making various proteins.
-Harvey B. Simon, M.D.Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch
✅ Anti-inflammatory agents
Inflammation can lead to (1) increases in sensitivity to negative, threatening social experiences and (2) increases in sensitivity to positive, socially rewarding experiences. These diverging sensitivities in response to inflammation may depend on context and be adaptive for recuperation and recovery from illness. This review also discusses the implications of these findings for health and future research, including implications for depression, loneliness, and inflammatory disorders.
-Moieni M, Eisenberger NI.
-Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 May 28. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13864. [Epub ahead of print] Review.
Blueberries can help heart health, bone strength, skin health, blood pressure, diabetes management, cancer prevention, and mental health. Research shows inhibition of cancer cell growth by blueberry extracts.
-http://www.lsuagcenter.com- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com
Food For Thought
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