Whether it’s improving our moods, revitalizing our energy levels, trimming our bloating waistline or adding some much needed musculature to our scrawny frames, nothing gets us to our mental and physical goals quite like exercise does.  It’s one of the few things that, when implemented correctly, produces results almost immediately.

So it may come as a surprise to you when I say that exercising damages the body.  You read that right:  Exercise damages the body.

See, when we lift a weight with our arms or pound the pavement with our running feet, tiny microfibers in our muscles tear with every rep or step.  The rest we give our bodies in the aftermath of exercise allows them to build up stronger than they were before, which is why professional trainers make sure their triathletes and marathon runners get plenty of time to rest and recuperate after a race.

As much as they try not to, though, overtraining is an all too common occurrence for these workout warriors.

But researchers think they may have found a way to help minimize the effects excessive exercise has on the muscles.

The antidote? Blueberries.

Researchers from the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research discovered blueberries’ protective effects after exposing blueberry extracts to myotubes, which are developing skeletal muscle fibers.  The New Zealanders then simulated the effects exercise has on muscle fibers through the use of a calcium compound called calcium ionophore.

Amazingly, the blueberry extract seemed to counteract the effects of the calcium compound, essentially minimizing the muscle from the oxidative stress that typically occurs during exercise.  And the more blueberry extract that was used, the less damage there was.

Writing in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, the New Zealand researchers said, “These in vitro data support the concept that blueberry fruits or derived foods rich in malvidin glycosides may be beneficial in alleviating muscle damage caused by oxidative stress.”

But before you go off buying up bunches of blueberries, the researchers caution that their test was in vitro, not in vivo.  The difference is crucial, because in vitro experiments are done outside of a living organism, whereas the results of an in vivo experiment are taken inside a living thing (i.e. a human).

In the meantime, you really can’t go wrong when it comes to blueberries for health:  whether it’s fueling your exercise regimen or your active lifestyle.

While I don’t always succeed, I at least try to get blueberries into my diet everyday, whether it’s through a fruit smoothie or tossed into my morning bowl of oatmeal (you may have seen my oatmeal and blueberry breakfast bowls on my Facebook page in the past).

And while other foods rival, even surpass, blueberries when it comes to antioxidant content, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ranks blueberries as the berry best in health benefits when compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables.

Sources
nutraingredients.com
health.learninginfo.org