Thinking about topping your morning cereal with a cup of blueberries?
Do it.
Just one cup of blueberries per day could be the key to reducing blood pressure and arterial stiffness, both of which are associated with cardiovascular disease.
“Our findings suggest that regular consumption of blueberries could potentially delay the progression of prehypertension to hypertension, therefore reducing cardiovascular disease risk,” said Sarah A. Johnson, assistant director of the Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging (CAENRA) and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences at Florida State University.
Johnson and a team of FSU nutrition and exercise scientists are the authors of a new paper, “Daily blueberry consumption improves blood pressure and arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women with pre- and stage 1-hypertension.” Their work is found in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Johnson said she is interested in looking at how functional foods — foods that have a positive impact on health beyond basic nutrition — can prevent and reverse negative health outcomes, particularly for postmenopausal women.
