A blueberry a day won’t keep the doctor away, but 75 of them might

Sure, they might stain your tongue and teeth, but they also could improve your brain and heart health.

According to a new study out of London, a daily dose of blueberries improved cognitive abilities, lowered blood pressure and contributed to cardiovascular health.

Researchers at Kings College recruited 61 healthy men and women ages 65-80 and divided them into two groups.

For 12 weeks, one group drank a daily beverage made with 26 grams of freeze-dried wild blueberry powder. The other group drank a placebo that matched the other drink in taste, appearance, nutrients and fiber.

Although wild blueberries were used for this study, senior researcher Ana Rodriguez-Mateos told Medical News Today it isn’t a necessity, since “there are other studies that have been conducted with other types of blueberries showing benefits in cognitive and vascular health.”

The 26 grams of powder is the equivalent of 75-80 whole blueberries. According to Medical News Today, the scientists believed the blueberries’ benefits come from their pigment called anthocyanins, which are a class of polyphenols.

Polyphenols, according to the National Institutes of Health, protect the body’s tissues against “oxidative stress and associated pathologies such as cancers, coronary heart disease and inflammation.”

When the 12 weeks were up, the researchers found the group that drank the wild blueberry powder showed improved heart and brain function, and a decrease in systolic blood pressure.

“This suggests that WBB (poly)phenols may reduce future cardiovascular disease (CVD) disease risk in an older population, and may improve episodic memory processes and executive functioning in older adults at risk of cognitive decline,” the researchers concluded.

The full study appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.