If You Want a Healthy Heart Try Eating Blueberries

Exercise and good nutrition are essential for a healthy heart. Florida State University reported on Jan. 8, 2015 one cup of blueberries daily could be the key to decreasing blood pressure and arterial stiffness, both of which are linked to cardiovascular disease. Sarah A. Johnson, who is assistant director of the Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging at Florida State University, says the findings from this study suggest eating blueberries could potentially delay the progression of prehypertension to hypertension, therefore lowering cardiovascular disease risk.

Eating Blueberries for Healthy Heart

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Johnson says she is interested in investigating how functional foods, which are foods that have a positive impact on health that goes beyond basic nutrition, can help to prevent and reverse negative health outcomes. She has a particular interest in exploring this in postmenopausal women. Johnson points out that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Women are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease once they go through menopause. The addition of blueberries to the diet may help to lessen the negative cardiovascular effects which are often seen as a result of menopause.

In this study after eight weeks participants who received blueberry powder versus placebo powder with their meals on average had a 7 mmHg or 5.1 percent, decrease in systolic blood pressure. These participants also saw a 5 mmHg, or 6.3 percent, decrease in diastolic blood pressure. Furthermore, participants in the blueberry treated group had an average decrease of 97 cm/second, or 6.5 percent, in arterial stiffness.

It was also observed that nitric oxide, which is a blood biomarker known to be involved in the widening of blood vessels, increased by 68.5 percent in the particpants who consumed blueberry powder. This is significant because arterial stiffness and the narrowing of blood vessels are both seen with hypertension. A rise in nitric oxide is associated with reductions in blood pressure.

Blueberrys is Good for Cardiovascular Disease & Blood Pressure

This study has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Although there are many antihypertensive drug therapies available many people prefer natural therapies in order to avoid the possible side effects associated with drug therapy. The antihypertensive and vascular-protective effects of blueberries have been demonstrated. Daily blueberry consumption may lower blood pressure and decrease arterial stiffness. Since blueberries are generally considered to be delicious the suggestion to eat more blueberries for heart health should be well received by a lot of people.

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