Heart Health: Study Finds Berries Reduce Heart Attack Risk

In a recent post, Lindsay discussed one of the latest “breakthroughs” introduced on the Dr. Oz show, raspberry ketones, the magic fat burning supplement . She pointed out that, as is the case with virtually all of these products that make incredible claims, there is very little if any science to support the claims made by those promoting raspberry ketones. The last point she made in her blog was rather than relying on raspberry ketone supplements, eat whole, fresh raspberries. She also pointed out that among the many nutritional benefits of raspberries, they are a source of anthocyanins.

A study published in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation, on January 14^th, just two days after Lindsay’s post supports her recommendation. The study of 93,000 women who were a part of the Nurses’ Health Study, found that a diet rich in blueberries and strawberries, major sources of antocyanins, was associated with a 32% reduction in the risk of heart attacks.

Their findings suggested that the reduced risk stemmed specifically from the antocyanins rather than a reflection of the overall beneficial effect of a diet high in fruits and vegetable. Anthocyanins are a class of phytochemicals thought to have heart friendly antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.  In addition to raspberries, blueberries and strawberries other sources include, blackberries, black currants, concord grapes, red cabbage and eggplants. The authors of the study commented, “This data is important from a public health perspective because these fruits can be easily incorporated into the habitual diet.”

Earlier studies by the same research team found that high levels of anthocyanin intake were associated with significantly lower blood pressure levels.

The best news for me is that often, it seems, the foods that best for us, may not be the most palatable, but most of us enjoy the foods that are the richest in anthocyanins (I’ll pass on eggplant though) making this an easy guideline to implement.