Improve cardiovascular health with one cup blueberries a day.

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in Australia. It kills one Australian every 12 minutes and affects one in six people around the country. The three biggest risk factors for heart disease include smoking, being overweight or obese and doing very little exercise.

While everyone with any or all of these lifestyle risk factors should make a concerted effort to change their health habits, a simple short term and immediate strategy might be to introduce 150 g of blueberries into their daily diet.

Researchers have found that eating 150 g of blueberries a day reduces risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The team set out to see whether eating blueberries had any effect on Metabolic Syndrome, a condition that affects one-third of adults in the western world and comprises at least three of the following risk factors: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, low levels of good cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides.

In a study with 138 overweight and obese people aged between 50 and 75 with metabolic syndrome, they investigated the effects of eating 150 g blueberries over a six-month period.
One group received 150 g blueberries, another 75 g, and the placebo group received a purple-coloured alternative made from artificial colours and flavourings.

The results concluded that while 75 g blueberries seemed to have no benefits over the placebo group, the group who ate one cup or 150 g of blueberries a day resulted in sustained improvements in vascular function and arterial stiffness: Enough difference to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by between 12 and 15 percent.

The simple and attainable message is to consume one cup of blueberries daily to improve cardiovascular health.

Previous studies have indicated that people who regularly eat blueberries have a reduced risk of developing conditions including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This may be because blueberries are high in naturally occurring compounds called anthocyanins, which are the flavonoids responsible for the red and blue colour in fruits.

The University of East Anglia. "Eating blueberries every day improves heart health." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 May 2019.

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