07/15/2026
After women ate more than a cup of blueberries, researchers couldn’t find hardly any anthocyanins, the fruit’s blue pigments purported to be the beneficial active ingredients, in their bloodstream or flowing through their urine. How can blueberries have so many amazing effects if their anthocyanins barely even make it into our system?
Researchers decided to radioactively tag anthocyanins and trace them throughout the body to find out. They discovered that blueberry pigments are metabolized by our liver and our microbiome (the good bacteria in our gut) into active metabolites that are then absorbed into our system.
Some of the metabolites peak in the bloodstream within an hour of consumption, but others ramp up more slowly, especially if the berries have to make it all the way down into the colon. So, if you track the metabolites even further, some spike even higher between 6 to 24 hours after consumption. (See the chart at 4:09 https://bit.ly/3JG23qx.)
A day later, we may still be experiencing berry benefits as our gut bacteria continue to churn out goodies that get absorbed back into our system, feeding us as we feed them. Eating blueberries is like taking a natural probiotic. Win-win all around.
You can eat your blueberries raw or cooked, as researchers saw the same remarkable improvement in artery function with blueberries baked into a bun.
Watch the video “Benefits of Blueberries for Artery Function” at https://bit.ly/3JG23qx to learn more.
PMIDs: 25150116, 12097661, 23604435, 27881391, 24004888, 22060186, 25044909
