A Handful a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
What disease-kicking fruit do we all need more of in our life to prevent and fight disease
We’ve all heard of the infamous apple. In fact, the two most frequently bought fruits in the USA are apples and bananas.
Too often, people believe that every fruit is built the same, and carries with them the same disease-fighting properties and health benefits.
However, every fruit comes with its own nutrient profile that will act on the body in diverse ways. One of the many reasons why we need a varied intake of fruits to be healthy.
Although we should still eat apples and bananas, there are fruits that are much more powerful, and have been proven to prevent diseases like Parkinson’s and enhance our immune system’s innate ability to fight cancer cell development.
The Blueberry
Berries of all colors are proven champions when it comes to overall health benefits declared by the Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory.
The compounds in berries carry with them an array of claimed anti-cancer properties including their ability to counteract, reduce, and repair damage resulting from oxidative stress and inflammation.
But only recent studies involved a more in depth look at the blueberry.
Known for its deep blue colour that suggests a higher antioxidant level than say a light-coloured green grape, studies now suggest that blueberries can also bolster the count of our natural killer cells.
These specialized cells are part of our immune system and they don’t need to be exposed to a disease or infection to be activated, they naturally stand on guard at all times.
There are 2 billion of these cells flowing through our bloodstream at any given moment, and science hadn’t proved that we could actually further increase this amount until their study with blueberry extract.
The Science
In one study, researchers asked athletes to eat about a cup and a half of blueberries every day for six weeks to see if the berries could reduce the oxidative stress caused by long distance running.
The blueberries succeeded, unsurprisingly, but a more important finding was their effect on natural killer cells.
Blueberries can boost the number of our natural killer cells which allows the body to be further armed against foreign invaders or mutated cells.
Another study was conducted on the power of the blueberry and common environmental toxins.
This study showed that by eating healthfully, you can reduce your exposure to pollutants while countering their effects at the same time
When blueberries (and strawberries) were put head-to-head with pesticides, researchers found that a body that has had years of daily berry consumption can better debilitate the effects of common pesticides in our environment and on our foods.
In addition to all of this, another study was conducted on the consumption of blueberries and Parkinson’s disease.
This small study by Harvard University looked at 130,000 people and found that those who eat more berries do have a significantly lowered risk at developing Parkinson’s disease.
Since Parkinson’s is largely a disease of the nerve cells, it impacts brain cognition as well.
So, a human study was conducted using blueberries and memory cognition.
This study is important because conducting tests on humans shows greater results than in vitro, or in petri dishes using extracts and removed human cells.
In 2012, Harvard University researchers found that the diet and health of 16,000 women who consumed at least one serving of blueberries each week had slower rates of cognitive decline compared with those who didn’t eat any berries.
Although this study was performed using blueberries, researchers indicate that the likes of a strawberry or blackberry will garner similar results.
What Spice can Boost the Properties of the Blueberry?
As I have written about before, the benefits of herbs and spices on human health are equally as important as the foods we consume.
Eating a diverse amount of these substances can and will increase our health and make food taste great!
Now we know that blueberries can boost the number of natural killer cells in our bodies, but what can boost the killer cell activity to effectively fight cancer cells?
It appears it is the aromatic spice called cardamom.
Researchers put some lymphoma cells in a petri dish and added natural killer cells, which were able to wipe out about 5% of the cancer cells. After researchers sprinkled some cardamom, the natural killer cells appeared to become “supercharged” and eradicate 10 times more cancer cells.
Put it all Together:
Getting more blueberries in your diet can be as simple as a smoothie, a berry bowl, or a healthy, sweet baked treat.
You can checkout my Blueberry Blood Sugar Balancing Smoothie here.
My Blueberry Cardamom Muffin Recipe here.
By eating blueberries simultaneously with cardamom, you are not only increasing the circulating natural killer cells, but boosting their abilities. That’s one powerful muffin.
