Blueberries Help to Lower Blood Pressure

Blueberries are a rich source of polyphenols, potent antioxidants that include phenolics acids, tannins, flavonols and anthocyanins.  Previous studies have suggested  blueberries to exert a variety of beneficial health effects, including cholesterol reduction, and prevention against some cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Dorothy J. Klimis-Zacas, from the University of Maine (Maine., USA), and colleagues fed a diet including 8% wild blueberries to laboratory rats in which high blood pressure (hypertension) was induced.  The researchers observed that the animals experienced less constriction in blood vessel, compared with animals fed a control diet, suggesting increased activity of the nitric oxide pathway, whereby nitric oxide acts as a potent vasodilator, to promote the relaxation of blood vessels, thereby easing blood pressure. The team concludes that: “The findings document the potential of wild blueberries to modify major pathways of vasomotor control and improve the vascular tone.”