Blueberries they are small, delicious but despite their size they are one of the highest antioxidant foods in the world. These berries are native to North America. The Native Americans ate these berries fresh and dried them up for in the winter. They used to make a meal called pemmican, which consists of berries that they mixed with meat. To finish they smoked and dried the meat.
They also used to make a pudding with blueberries. The berries were dried, and beaten into a powder. This blueberry powder was then mixed with honey, cornmeal and water to create a pudding called Sautauthig. Blueberries were not only used for the purpose of eating but they also used them for their medical properties. Blueberries were used for numerous medical purposes by Native Americans, which are now the subject of intensive scientific researches.
Blueberries contain antioxidants such as anthocyanins which is a compound that gives fruits and vegetables there deep red, purple and bleu hues. Recent studies has linked anthocyanins to numerous health benefits, including increased longevity, cardiovascular health, dementia and cancer prevention. Antioxidants also fight against free radicals. If free radicals are not eliminated from the body they can attack proteins, DNA and lipids inside our body. Resulting in cellular changes that result in diseases and even cancer.
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds found in plants. Not all phytochemicals are beneficial as cocaine and nicotine are also phytochemicals. But blueberries have a broad range of phytochemicals like flavonoids which have several health benefits. They boost our immune system and help against diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
One study from the University of East Angelia found that the consumption of blueberries and strawberries reduced the risk of a heart attack. To conduct the study they had 93,600 woman who volunteered aged between 25 to 42 years. While they conducted the study 405 woman died due to a heart attack. The woman who ate the most blueberries and strawberries had a 32 percent reduction in their risk of getting a heart attack. The woman who ate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables or ate the berries only once a month or less did not have this reduction. According to the Journal of the American Heart Association eating three or more servings of blueberries and strawberries a week, can reduce the risk of a heart attack by a third. Eating these berries in your younger age can even reduce your risk of a heart attack for your later years.
Frozen blueberries vs fresh blueberries
In a study they compared the anthocyanin content of frozen blueberries vs fresh blueberries. Anthocyanin are the antioxidants with several health claims including prevention against cancer and dementia. The berries that were frozen had a higher anthocyanin concentration. This due the fact as the ice crystals break open the cells of the berries which makes the antioxidant more accessible.
Blueberries help fight acne
Blueberries helps the body restore its hormone imbalance. Supplementing your diet with blueberries can be a good step to help restore your skin as acne can be a side effect of hormone imbalance.
If you still have some blueberries left inside your kitchen then you can always treat yourself with a simple face mask to help fight those acne spots.
Acne facemask:
o 1 cup fresh blueberries
o 1/2 cup pulverized oatmeal powder
o 1 teaspoon honey
o 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Directions:
1.Mix well, apply to face for 10 – 15 minutes
Healthy cinnamon bleuberry muffins
Blueberries are delicious to eat on its own, but they are also perfect to combine in your recipe’s. A simple way to increase your blueberry consumption is to add blueberries inside your smoothie or eat it with your breakfast. But they are also delicious to combine inside desserts. Today I will be sharing these delicious cinnamon cupcakes with blueberries. They are not so sweet as I sweetened them with coconut sugar, but that does make them even healthier.
Ingredients:
The batter:
• 300 gram flour
• 225 gram coconut sugar
• 150 ml almond milk
• 1 egg
• 150 gram blueberries
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 75 gram coconut oil
Top layer:
• 100 gram coconut sugar
• 50 gram flour
• 50 gram butter
• 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and line muffin cups with paper.
- Mix the flour, coconut sugar, salt and baking powder together. Then add the eggs, oil and almond milk to the mixture. Fold the blueberries inside the mixture.
- In a separate bowl mix together the coconut sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon.
- Fill the muffin cups with the muffin mixture and divide the crumbly cinnamon layer amongst all the muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes inside the oven.
- Let the muffins cool down and then you are ready to attack! ;)
The post is created for information purposes only. Not as subsitute for proffesional medical advise.
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