Blueberries and Blood Pressure
You can't turn on a television, pick up a newspaper, or go to
a doctor's appointment these days without hearing about high
blood pressure. It's a sad fact that, according to the American
Heart Association, over two million Americans find out they suffer
from high blood pressure; of these, more than 45,000 die annually
as a result of the condition.
Blood pressure is defined as, "The pressure exerted by
the blood against the walls of the blood vessels, especially
the arteries. It varies with the strength of the heartbeat, the
elasticity of the arterial walls, the volume and viscosity of
the blood, and a person's health, age, and physical condition." It
is, literally, pressure from your blood! You can have high blood
pressure for years withoout knowing it or showing symptoms, and,
if untreated, can increase your chances of having a stroke by
seven, and of heart failure by six.
But wait - there's good news! You might have a bit of prevention
unknowingly sitting in your freezer.
Blueberries!
 That's
right - the pretty little berries in your pie or your favorite
muffins are also being touted as a powerful high blood pressure
treatment, due to their high antioxidant levels.
There has been a longstanding belief in natural medicine that
there are certain foods that provide more than just dietary value
and are believed to have disease-fighting and healing properties.
One of these foods that has been studied and proven to be, among
other things, a tasty way to fill up on antioxidants, is the
blueberry. In fact, blueberries have, in been shown to be number
one in antioxidant activity, as compared to 40 other fruits and
vegetables.
Probably the most nutrient-laden part of the blueberry is its
skin. The dye released from the pigments in the skin of the blueberry,
called anthocyanin is the source of the powerful antioxidants
used by the body to fight off high blood pressure. But, before
we go on, what are antioxidants?
Antioxidants, by definition, are "any of various substances
(as beta-carotene, vitamin C, and alpha-tocopherol) that inhibit
oxidation or reactions promoted by oxygen and peroxides and that
include many held to protect the living body from the deleterious
effects of free radicals." What this means is that antioxidants,
like those found in blueberries, fight off toxic forms of oxygen.
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