What Happens If You Eat Blueberries Every Day

Fruit is widely regarded as a healthy, fresh, whole food that we should all include in our every day diet. But blueberries are considered especially good for you, with a wide range of beneficial components. We interviewed Kelsey Kunik, a registered dietitian, for her expertise on the health benefits of adding blueberries to your daily diet.

"Blueberries are an incredible source of antioxidants and plant compounds that play an important role in disease prevention," says Kunik. "They're particularly high in anthocyanins, a group of antioxidants associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cognitive impairment due to their powerful anti-inflammatory effects." Antioxidants benefit brain functions like memory and cognition, and can help with the prevention of mental decline as we age. Blueberries are also low in calories and have a fairly low glycemic index, so they're fine for diabetics, too. Even if you're watching your sugar intake for other reasons, blueberries are a low-sugar fruit that still provides plenty of sweetness and helps improve insulin sensitivity.

Kunik also says that the fiber and anthocyanins in blueberries both support heart health. She cites research (done by the University of East Anglia and Harvard) that "suggests that eating one cup of blueberries daily for six months was linked to improvements in arterial stiffness and blood vessel function, most likely related to their high anthocyanin content."

Blueberries are highly perishable with a short summer season for peak freshness. While you can get them year-round, fresh blueberries are quite expensive. You can shell out for the freshest summer blueberries to capitalize on their flavor, but frozen blueberries are a better buy for a tighter budget. Plus, frozen blueberries might be more nutritious than fresh blueberries because the freezing process concentrates their antioxidants, making them more easy to access.

"Whether you eat blueberries fresh or frozen," says Kunik, "they're a great way to boost the nutritional content of any meal or snack. Add them to smoothies or yogurt to add natural sweetness and bursts of flavor, reducing the need for added sugars and sweeteners." And we've got plenty of blueberry recipes for you to try. However, ating blueberries in their raw form, whether blended into smoothies or garnishing salads, is better than baking or otherwise cooking the blueberries as high heat might degrade the potency of those all-important antioxidants.

Another great way to increase the benefits of blueberries is to pair them with healthy fats like nut butters, avocados, seeds, or olive oils which will help you absorb the wealth of vitamins and antioxidants they supply. You can make a smoothie with blueberries, bananas, soy milk, and peanut butter or add blueberries to a salad with pecans, feta, spinach, red onions, cherry tomatoes, avocados, and a bright vinaigrette.