Florida, United States (Web Desk): A latest research has revealed that just a cup of blueberries every day could help reduce blood pressure and arterial stiffness, both of which are associated with heart disease.
Sarah Johnson from Florida State University said, “Our findings suggest that regular consumption of blueberries could potentially delay the progression of prehypertension to hypertension, therefore reducing cardiovascular disease risk”.
Over an eight-week period, 48 post menopausal women were randomly assigned to receive either 22 grams of freeze-dried blueberry powder-the equivalent to one cup of fresh blueberries-or 22 grams of a placebo powder.
Participants receiving the blueberry powder on average had a five percent decrease in systolic blood pressure, which is the top number in the blood pressure reading.
Additionally, participants in the blueberry-treated group had an average reduction of 6.5 per cent in arterial stiffness.
They also found that nitric oxide, a blood biomarker known to be involved in the widening of blood vessels, increased by 68.5 percent.
“Our findings suggest that the addition of a single food, blueberries, to the diet may mitigate the negative cardiovascular effects that often occur as a result of menopause,” Johnson said.