April, 2011 edition of Agricultural Research from the USDA is all about the powerful blueberry.
In one article, “Blueberries and Your Health: Scientists Study Nutrition Secrets of Popular Fruit,” researcher Xianli Wu describes his work with blueberries and their ability to reduce atherosclerosis.
“It’s already known that oxidative stress can increase atherosclerosis risk,” says Wu, “so the beneficial interactions of blueberries with these antioxidant enzymes are of interest to us. Since our center specializes in children’s nutrition research, we also want to determine whether blueberry-based interventions early in life could prevent atherosclerosis from developing in later years. If Mom eats blueberries during her pregnancy and feeds blueberries to her child, would that have a protective effect for the child? We don’t know, but that’s something we’d like to determine.”
Other studies have shown that diets rich in antioxidants – especially those found in blueberries – can be instrumental in helping people avoid macular degeneration.