True Blue

I confess, I'm addicted to blueberries.  I eat handfuls of them everyday from late July until the end of August as if they were candy.  Then, much like a squirrel preparing for winter, I gather more berries to put into the freezer for use during the other months of the year.  Luckily for me we have 25 or so blueberry bushes that were planted nearly 20 years ago that produce wonderful organic berries so that I don't even have to purchase them.   I can simply go and pick a bowlful to enjoy until they run out and then go pick some more.  In our house it's often a fight for the last few berries instead of a fight for the last cookie, even the dogs get in the act hoping to catch a stray blueberry that falls on the floor.

When the bushes were planted we knew nothing about antioxidants or the health benefits associated with this tiny blue fruit, we just knew we liked blueberries and that our climate was conducive to growing them.  My late father was the mastermind behind the blueberry patch and as a native of Michigan I think they reminded him of his childhood.  Whatever the impetus behind planting those bushes 20 years ago, we have all reaped the rewards of his mission.

It turns out that these little blue berries are more than just delicious, they are actually quite a wondrous food.  Research by Tufts University and the USDA have shown that blueberries can actually reverse the effects of age related brain decline.  Studies using blueberry, strawberry, and spinach extracts in rats found significant improvement in overall cognitive function, short term memory loss, and balance in the rats given blueberry extract.

One of the new buzz words, or acronym in this case, for healthy foods these days is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity or ORAC.  The higher the ORAC score for a given food the more antioxidant phytonutrients or polyphenols it possesses and that means higher anti-aging, anti-cancer, and overall disease fighting properties for the highest ranked foods such as blueberries.  Some foods, including fruits and vegetables, along with some tea and fruit juice packages are starting to include the ORAC scores on their nutritional labels to help consumers make healthy choices.

Just by adding 1 or 2 cups of blueberries to your diet each day can help keep the neurons in your brain connected and working up to their potential.  Good news for blueberry addicts such as myself!  But if you're not a big fan of blueberries don't despair, the article linked below provides a list of other fruits, vegetables, and even nuts and their respective ORAC scores.

 

Click HERE to read more about the brain benefits of blueberries and other brain healthy foods.