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5 Reasons to be Wild about Wild Blueberries
Hi Friends, today’s natural food I am featuring is the awesome nutritional powerhouse wild blueberry.
Where do they come from ?
Native to Northern America, they grow wild almost exclusively from the state of Maine and northwards into Canada.Difference between wild blueberries and cultivated blueberries…..
Coming from Europe, I was accustomed to the bilberry but not the blueberry. It has been exciting to become acquainted with this powerhouse little berry.Only recently did I consistently add wild blueberries to my family’s daily diet because I hadn’t previously appreciated the additional nutritional value contained in wild blueberries as compared to the cultivated varieties.
The wild blueberry is much smaller than the cultivated blueberry and therefore you get a lot more skin for a pound of berries than you do with the cultivated berries ( up to double the amount of berries for the same weight).
And it is in the skin that most of the key nutritional benefits lie…………….
Research has shown that wild blueberries tend to have higher bioactive compounds called anthocyanin and antioxidant levels than cultivated blueberries.
In addition, the specific anthocyanin and phenolic compounds of wild blueberries are different than those in cultivated berries and have been associated by researchers with enhanced health benefits.
Anthocyanins belong to the bioactive family of compounds called flavonoids and are found in high amounts in blackcurrants, raspberries, aubergines, blood orange juice and blueberries.
Wild Blueberries have a more intense, sweet and tangy taste than cultivated blueberries.
It is time to be get wild about wild blueberries……..
The deeper the blue of the berries the better the health benefits because the deep blue color is related to high amounts of phytonutrients called anthocyanidins. These phytonutrients aid in the process of neutralizing free radical damage in our cells.Wild blueberries are super foods in the real sense of the word………..
Wild blueberries are an antioxidant powerhouse.
Antioxidants (if you didn’t know) stop the oxidation process in our cells run by particles known as free radicals. And when we don’t get enough antioxidants, then oxidative stress is said to be occurring which can manifest as premature aging or creating chronic conditions that can lead to disease and eventually even death.
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