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Health Benefits of Blueberries

Tasneem Bhatia, MDWild blueberries have been grown in Maine for more than 10,000 years and are one of America’s oldest indigenous crops and one of only a handful of crops indigenous to North America. Unlike farmed blueberries, wild blueberries grow naturally anywhere and in extreme temperatures. For centuries, Native Americans have used the “low-bush” blueberries to heal and nourish the body, mixing them into meats, and making soups, broths, and wojapi, a thick berry sauce.

Wild blueberries can yield enormous health benefits, integrative health advocates say. The stains, or pigments, that wild blueberries leave on our fingers are actually health-protective compounds. These compounds fight cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer, improves memory, and acts as an antiviral to bolster immunity. Tasneem Bhatia, MD, an integrative medicine physician in Atlanta and a Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM), says we should all make wild blueberries a part of our diet. The ABOIM is a Member Board of the American Board of Physician Specialties®.

“Wild blueberries are high in antioxidants,” she says. “They provide about 14 percent of your daily fiber requirements. They are high in vitamin C. And you get all of these benefits in just a cup of blueberries – for 90 calories.” But, that’s not all, she says. Blueberries also fight aging and osteoporosis, help prevent wrinkles, and improve cognition.

A great way to incorporate wild blueberries into our daily diet, Dr. Bhatia says, is by making a blueberry super sauce that we can store in the refrigerator. The sauce keeps for about a week and a half and is simple to make. It combines one cup of blueberries with eight ounces of water, two teaspoons of honey and two teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. The sauce can be used in a variety of creative ways. Mixing it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil makes a delicious salad dressing. You can also add soy sauce to it for a tasty marinade for chicken or fish. For a delicious protein smoothie, Dr. Bhatia recommends blending the blueberry sauce with coconut milk or almond milk and protein powder.

The ABPS supports Dr. Bhatia’s efforts in raising awareness about the importance of establishing and maintaining a healthy diet. Through the ABOIM, the ABPS is committed to advancing an integrative health approach that treats the patient as a whole and takes into account the patient’s diet and lifestyle to help them achieve optimal health and healing. For more information about the ABOIM, contact the ABPS today.

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Far too often, medicine is led by less than 5% of non-practicing physicians taking away and replacing the voice of the 95% of physicians practicing and placing patient safety and care first on the front lines every day. The American Board of Physician Specialties has raised the standards in physician board certification not only in the quality of their boards of certification, but in hearing and allowing for the voice of those active physicians caring directly for patients. Having been a part of the ABPS over the last 28 years has allowed me to grow as a woman leader in a field often wrought with challenges. It helped me and others raise the bar of the standards of care in my specialty, Emergency Medicine, through their Board Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM). ABPS also helped raise the standards of care for 21st century medicine through their certifications in other specialties, particularly in Integrative Medicine & Disaster Medicine. Having physician voices heard matters to medicine and is essential in the betterment of patient safety and care.

Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Emergency Medicine
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Disaster Medicine
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Integrative Medicine
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Internal Medicine
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Emergency Medicine
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Internal Medicine
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