Dr. John's Health Matters

Sept 2, 2009 (Foodnavigator.com)—Drinking a modified blueberry juice may reduce food intake and body weight, and offer weight management potential, suggest findings from a new study with mice.

Canadian researchers report that mice prone to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension drinking the blueberry juice were protected against the development of glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus.

The blueberry juice used in the study was not standard juice but had undergone a transformation using the Serratia vaccinii bacterium.

“Results of this study clearly show that biotransformed blueberry juice has strong anti-obesity and anti-diabetic potential,” said lead researcher Pierre Haddad, from the Université de Montréal.

“Biotransformed blueberry juice may represent a novel therapeutic agent, since it decreases hyperglycemia in diabetic mice and can protect young pre-diabetic mice from developing obesity and diabetes.”

Blueberries, nature’s only ‘blue’ food, are a rich source of polyphenols, potent antioxidants that include phenolics acids, tannins, flavonols and anthocyanins.

For full article, see link above.