Blueberries May Help Banish Belly Fat

You've probably heard me rant and rave about blueberries. I eat them about six out of seven days a week, I gave them a "star" in my book "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth", and I've spoken at length about their high antioxidant content, their low sugar content, and their ability to boost memory.

Well, get ready for some hot news: Blueberries may also help banish belly fat.

A new study by researcher E. Mitchell Seymour, MS, of the University of Michigan shows that rats that ate a diet high in blueberries lost abdominal fat- the kind linked to increased waist size and increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. This happened even when the rats ate a high-fat diet. As an extra added bonus, the blueberry eating rats also had improved glucose control (meaning their blood sugar was more stable).

The researchers suggest that blueberries- with their high antioxidant content- may somehow alter the way the body stores and processes sugar, great news for those at risk for both heart disease and diabetes. "Our findings in regard to blueberries show the naturally occurring chemicals they contain, such as anthocyanins, show promise in mitigating these health conditions," said researcher Steven Bolling, MD, of the University of Michigan,

In the current study- presented at Experimental Biology 2009- rats were bred to become obese were fed either a low-fat diet or a high-carb diet, both of which were enriched with whole blueberry powder (about 2% of their total caloric intake).

After three months the rats fed the blueberries had improved glucose control and improved insulin sensitivity. Better glucose control and improved insulin sensitivity are both strongly related to lowering the risk for diabetes.

I find blueberries one of the easiest foods to incorporate into your diet. In season or not, you can always get them frozen, and I like to eat them right out of the freezer (mixed with frozen cherries). I put some FACE 2% yogurt on them, sprinkle with some slivered almonds, flaked unsweetened coconut and some probiotic powder and have them as a nightly "dessert". It's the ultimate "anti-aging" treat!

My Favorite Superfood: The Memory Enhancer

I'm always amused by those multi-level marketing juice drinks (Xango, Mangosteen, Xocai, Mona Vie) that go for 40 bucks a bottle and promise to cure everything from hair loss to cancer. I don't believe for a moment that those juices provide any more antioxidant power or health promoting properties than a good mix of plain old berries (like blueberries) that you can get anywhere at a fraction of the price.

Consider this:

A new study published in the current issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that wild blueberries outperformed 2 dozen other commonly consumed fruits like apples, bananas, red grapes and strawberries in an expanded test using the Cellular Antioxidant Activity (CAA) assay (lab test). The research shows that wild blueberries have the highest cellular antioxidant activity of the 25 fruits tested, as well as the highest total phenolic content and ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value.

ORAC value is a "combo score" based on the ability of mixed antioxidants in a given food to perform as a team, often delivering more punch and power than you might expect from any of the individual ingredients- think "The Rolling Stones" as a band as opposed to Mick Jagger as a solo artist!

Lead scientist Rui Hai Liu, Ph.D. used the cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) assay -- a new assay developed by the Cornell University Department of Food Science to determine antioxidant activity of antioxidants, foods, and dietary supplements.

According to Dr. Liu, the CAA assay was developed to investigate how antioxidant compounds found in foods react inside real cells as opposed to test tubes, using human liver cancer cells as the testing model. The new CAA test is a more biologically relevant method as it accounts for uptake, metabolism, distribution and activity of antioxidant compounds within cells versus solely looking at antioxidant value.

The recently published study shows the cellular antioxidant activity of 25 common fruits, an expansion from earlier CAA testing done in 2007. "In expanding the test to include more fruits, we found that wild blueberries had the highest antioxidant activity, with other berries and pomegranates also showing strong performance" said Dr. Liu.

Previous research that I reported on showed that blueberry extracts fed to mice improved their memory and maze learning ability, showing the blueberries truly are a "brain' food. Blueberries are one food I eat every single day- without exception. I've written glowingly about them in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.

The new research is more evidence for what we've known for a while- blueberries are at the top of the heap when it comes to providing antioxidant power.

And by the way- you don't have to wait for them to be in season. Buy 'em frozen. In fact, eat them right from the freezer sprinkled with some nuts and a little raw milk or Pomegranate juice. There's nothing like it for staving off the craving for an 800 calorie pint of ice cream.