Blueberries have a rich folkloric history as an herbal medicine. At one time, a tea made by steeping the roots of the blueberry bush was thought to calm women during childbirth. Native Americans credited blueberry juice and syrup a cure for coughs. Scandinavians used dried blueberries to treat children with diarrhea.
Lately scientific evidence emerging from labs all over the country tells us that blueberries are potent little disease warriors. These blue beauties are packed with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins – the pigment that makes them blue – and other flavonoids, including condensed tannins. In fact, when compared with the antioxidants in dozens of other fruits and vegetables, those in blueberries have a greatest capacity to destroy unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals. Without antioxidants, free radicals careen around the body attacking cells and causing damage that paves the way for cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants also may hamper the build-up of LDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of blood clots that cause strokes.Blueberries as Herbal Medicine
