molecule fragments that can link together to form cancer-causing compounds. Several ani-
mal studies attest to the ability of blueberries to inhibit the growth of specific cancers. For
example, in 2005, scientists at the University of Georgia reported in the journal Food Research
International that blueberry extracts inhibited the growth of liver cancer cells in laboratory
settings. The following year, researchers at Rutgers University (in New Jersey) delivered data
to the national meeting of the American Chemical Society from a study in which laboratory
rats fed a diet supplemented with pterostilbene, another compound extracted from blueber-
ries, had 57 percent fewer precancerous lesions in the colon than rats whose diet did not
contain the supplement. The findings, however, have not been confirmed in humans.
Enhanced memory function. In 2008, British researchers at the schools of Food Biosciences
and Psychology at the University of Reading and the Institute of Biomedical and Clinical
Sciences at the Peninsula Medical School (England) reported that adding blueberries to one’s
normal diet appears to improve both long-term and short-term memory, perhaps because
anthocyanins and flavonoids (water-soluble pigments in the berries) activate signals in the
hippocampus, a part of the brain that controls learning and memory. If confirmed, the data
would support the role played by diet in maintaining memory and brain function.
Urinary antiseptic. A 1991 study at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) suggests that
blueberries, like cr anberries, contain a compound that inhibits the ability of Escherichia coli,
a bacteria commonly linked to urinary infections, to stick to the wall of the bladder. If it
cannot cling to cell walls, the bacteria will not cause an infection. This discovery lends some
support to folk medicine, but how the berries work, how well they work, or in what “dos-
ages” remains to be proven.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food
Allergic reaction. Hives and angiodemea (swelling of the face, lips, and eyes) are common
allergic responses to berries, virtually all of which have been reported to trigger these reac-
tions. According to the Merck Manual, berries are one of the 12 foods most likely to trigger
classic food allergy symptoms. The others are chocolate, corn, eggs, fish, legumes (peas,
lima beans, peanuts, soybeans), milk, nuts, peaches, pork, shellfish, and wheat (see wheat
cereals).
Food/Drug Interactions
Blueberries