3 Benefits of Eating Blueberries

For the holidays every year, our only relatives on our dad’s side (our uncle and his wife, our beautiful Aunt Sara for whom Sara was named after) always send each of us a carefully chosen book.

When we were little this was boring (sorry Uncle Ed, we just didn’t get it then) but now we couldn’t be more grateful for these thought-provoking packages sent from across the country in New England.

Each year the books they send enable us to further challenge our brains and add to our professional knowledge base — the best gift any family member could give.

Somehow our aunt and uncle always seem to find both of us the perfect book for what’s happening in our lives at that very moment too, making it even more awesome when gift giving season rolls around.

Every year their books literally arrive in brown paper packages tied up in string, as if they took a lesson straight out of The Sound of Music.

The books are usually accompanied by little riddles intended to help us sort out which book is for whom, and we all sit around the living room on Christmas morning deciphering their handwritten letters, smiling at their charm and wit as we connect the dots.

Our parents’ two dogs, Toby & Bijou, can be found lying on the floor in the California sun, soaking up both the heat from the windows above and refreshing cool from the tile below.

Last year, they sent what has become one of the most useful books we’ve ever owned ~ The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, by Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS. We originally tussled a bit over who would get to “keep” this one, but realized it was pointless since we’d be living together anyway. 😉

We constantly refer to this book to help educate our clients about nutrition and the benefits of eating specific types of foods.

We’ve also used it multiple times now to create these educational posts for our blog followers and anyone interested in learning about what foods they should put in their bodies and why.

There is so much powerful information compacted in this incredible guide to nutrition and healthy eating that we highly recommend picking up a copy of your own.

Today’s post is about blueberries, those delicious brain-boosting berries that remind everyone of the girl in Willy Wonka whose fat head swells up from being such an annoying snob.

Fortunately, real blueberries don’t come with the side effect of having to be rolled out of a candy factory by little orange men, and all you have to do is add 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries to your daily diet to reap the benefits of this powerful super food!

(Source: The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS)

3 Benefits of Eating Blueberries:

1. Blueberries help neurons in the brain communicate with one another more effectively because of special compounds in them called polyphenols.
2. Blueberries help support memory, balance and coordination and may help lower blood cholesterol and promote urinary health.
3. Antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds in blueberries help protect against cardiovascular disease; they also have the highest ORAC rating of any fruit in the world (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, a rating system for antioxidant power).

Enjoy them on top of oatmeal, with a couple almonds, in a fruit salad or scooped up by the handful.

Blueberries are incredibly tasty and completely portable — just toss them in a ziploc baggy and take them with you anywhere you go!