Issue 12, 2019

Blueberries and cardiovascular disease prevention

Abstract

Blueberries are a rich source of (poly)phenols, particularly anthocyanins. Epidemiological studies indicate that anthocyanin-rich foods including blueberries are associated with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. These observational findings are supported by a number of randomized-controlled trials showing improvements in biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk. The beneficial effects of blueberry (poly)phenols are particularly clear when measuring flow-mediated dilation over various timeframes and study populations. However, other outcomes are less clear, such as effects on blood pressure, arterial stiffness and blood lipid profile. This may be due to the heterogeneity existing in study designs, such as duration of the intervention, and the health status of participants. Longer-term RCTs using gold standard methods in relevant populations which can be translated to the general public are needed to clarify and strengthen the evidence available. While circulating phenolic blueberry metabolites have been linked with improvements in vascular function, the biological activities and mechanisms of action of individual metabolites and their interaction in vivo are still unknown. Evaluating the bioactivities of metabolites alone and together, and analysing their structure–activity relationship in well-designed and physiologically relevant experimental and human studies are needed to understand the mechanisms of how these metabolites affect vascular function.

Graphical abstract: Blueberries and cardiovascular disease prevention

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
30 Sep 2019
Accepted
17 Nov 2019
First published
19 Nov 2019

Food Funct., 2019,10, 7621-7633

Blueberries and cardiovascular disease prevention

E. Wood, S. Hein, C. Heiss, C. Williams and A. Rodriguez-Mateos, Food Funct., 2019, 10, 7621 DOI: 10.1039/C9FO02291K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements