While eating fruits and vegetables are an important component of any healthy diet, knowing which fruits and vegetables target which health concerns can lead to better overall health outcomes.
In a new study recently published in the journal Nutrients, researchers learned that wild blueberries can be effective for consumers looking to burn fat and lose weight. Coupled with exercise, regularly eating freeze dried or fresh blueberries can help you shed some pounds.
Improving diet, burning fat
For the study, the researchers had 11 healthy men stick to an exercise routine and eat a specific amount of freeze dried blueberries. The men answered questions about their usual workout routine and diet, and the researchers measured their baseline health stats during a 40-minute moderate cycling workout, pricking their finger for blood tests every 10 minutes.
In addition to the exercise, the participants were instructed to eat 25 grams of freeze dried blueberries, or the equivalent of one cup of fresh blueberries, every day for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, they repeated the exercise and blood test routine to see how the blueberries affected their health.
Ultimately, the researchers learned that the blueberries improved how the participants burned fat. After two weeks of consistently eating blueberries, the participants’ fat oxidation rates – which is the rate the body is able to break down fatty acids – increased.
Fat oxidation increased the most after 30 minutes of exercise, going up by over 43% from the pre-blueberry diet. Similarly, after 20 minutes of exercise, fat oxidation rates increased by nearly 20%, and at the 40-minute mark, fat oxidation increased by over 31%.
The researchers explained that blueberries contain high traces of anthocyanin. This antioxidant has been the center of several other recent studies, as it continues to be linked to improving fat oxidation.