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.