Worried about gaining weight over
the holidays? You might want to add some blueberries to your plate. New
research shows that eating wild blueberries appears to counteract the negative
effects of a high-fat diet, including a marked reduction in blood pressure.
The findings, by the University of
Eastern Finland, are among the first to show that blueberries combat
hypertension and diet-related inflammatory responses tied to obesity-related
disorders, such as heart disease and diabetes.
The study focused on the health
effects of blueberries on mice fed high-fat diets for three months. Researchers
tracked inflammatory cell and cytokine levels, systolic blood pressure, glucose
tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and weight gain.
The results showed mice on the high-fat
diet experienced significant weight gain and detrimental changes in glucose and
lipid metabolism, inflammation factors, and blood pressure. But blueberries
diminished the inflammatory effects of the diet a reduced and prevented
elevated blood pressure.
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