Everyone knows that blueberries are healthy and most people can point at their high antioxidant content as the biggest source of their health benefits. But what are the more immediate and real benefits of eating blueberries?
What benefits exactly can you enjoy as a result of eating blueberries everyday?
1- Blueberries give you instant energy
Blueberries have around 10 grams of sugar for every 100 grams which makes them 10% sugar! What this means is that eating blueberries is a sure way to enjoy a rapid, almost instant boost in your energy levels.
The berries are mostly water and sugar which allows for the sugars in them to be absorbed quickly and raise blood sugar levels immediately for an almost instant energizing effect.
Eating blueberries everyday for breakfast is great if you are looking to boost your energy levels, but still eat something healthy and natural. It doesn’t really get any more natural than fresh fruit.
2- Blueberries help you poop better
One of the biggest benefits of eating blueberries everyday is bowel movement regularity. That is, eating blueberries every single day can help you poop better.
Blueberries have about 2.4 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams which is roughly 8.6% of all the fiber the average adult should get in a day.
The dietary fiber in blueberries is predominantly soluble. Soluble dietary fiber helps increase the volume of stools. More volume to stools stimulates peristalsis, the rhythmic contractions of the muscles of the digestive tract that move food along the GI tube.
This helps achieve bowel movement regularity with benefits for constipation relief.
Not just this, but soluble dietary fiber from blueberries dissolves in water taking on a viscous, gel-like consistency. By essentially attracting water in stools, it helps soften them and prevent hard, dry, pebble-like stools common in constipation.
3- Blueberries correct hypoglycemia
Low blood sugar, formally called hypoglycemia, is when you don’t have enough sugar in the bloodstream to adequately fuel your body and brain with energy.
Eating blueberries every day at breakfast, snack time or whenever you have to delay eating or can’t make a meal can help you avoid low blood sugar and rapidly correct hypoglycemia once installed.
Blueberries have over 84 grams of water for every 100 grams and about 14.5 grams of carbs, 10 grams of which are actual sugars!
Given their nutritional profile, the sugar you get from eating blueberries doesn’t take long to get digested and absorbed into the bloodstream, raising blood sugar and energy levels within minutes.
Low blood sugar causes headaches, dizziness, irritability, a drop in energy levels and vitality and even fainting. See what are 17 symptoms of low blood sugar (without diabetes) and identify the condition!
4- You can lose weight by eating blueberries everyday
One of the benefits of eating blueberries everyday is they help you lose weight. Blueberries have only 57 kcal (kilocalories, calories) per 100 grams and under 0.5 grams of fat, and help you achieve a calorie deficit for weight loss.
In addition to not piling on the calories, eating blueberries provides dietary fiber to help with satiety and natural sugars to satisfy cravings for sweet, but in a healthier manner.
Blueberries are also high in antioxidants which actively combat inflammation, with benefits for metabolism, and virtually sodium free to help you get rid of water weight and counteract bloating.
5- Eating blueberries everyday is a source of prebiotic benefits
Blueberries consumed every day represent a source of prebiotic benefits.
Dietary fiber from blueberries gets fermented in the digestive tract and serves as food for gut bacteria and other gut flora, helping sustain existing populations and increase their numbers, as well as support their activity.
A healthy, flourishing gut microbiome aids in digestion, produces vitamins for the body such as vitamin K2 and all B vitamins, modulates several metabolic markers and helps manage weight, with anti-obesity benefits, boost immunity and keeps the gut environment healthy.
6- Eating blueberries everyday is good for you if you have high blood pressure
If you have high blood pressure, then eating blueberries everyday is good for you.
While there aren’t any significant amounts of nutrients in blueberries that help with lowering blood pressure numbers, the berries are virtually sodium-free which is what makes them good to eat every day for high blood pressure.
See more nutrition facts for 100 grams of blueberries with percentages of daily values.
7- Blueberries are a good food for kidney disease
Not in the sense that they do something to cure kidney disease, but because they don’t do anything to worsen it. So eating blueberries every day is both safe and good for you if you have kidney disease.
What makes blueberries good to eat with kidney disease, even on a daily basis, is the fact that they are a very low-protein food with less than 1.5% of daily protein values for an adult per 100 grams.
If you have kidney damage, limiting protein intake is recommended to ease the load on the kidneys.
Eating more plant foods helps because plant foods are generally low in protein, with the exception of legumes (e.g. beans, Garbanzo beans). Fruits in particular are safe to eat everyday as they will help keep your protein intake low and, in the case of blueberries, also provide high amounts of antioxidants with an active anti-inflammatory effect.
8- Eating blueberries every day is good for hemorrhoids
While you can’t get rid of hemorrhoids other than with surgery, and even then it’s not always permanent, what you can do is manage them through diet.
Eating predominantly plant-based foods is the best thing you can do for hemorrhoids and a successful diet will make it so that you will rarely experience flareups.
Blueberries are a good option as they are high in water and have plenty of fiber to help you have soft, but well-formed stools and a good frequency of bowel movements.
Blueberries are especially good for hemorrhoids because they provide high amounts of antioxidants with scientifically proven anti-inflammatory effects that work towards reducing swelling and pain.
