Thursday, January 29, 2026

Wild blueberries: New review explores benefits for heart, metabolism and the microbiome

Evidence links wild blueberries to “whole body” health benefits

Wild Blueberry Association of North America

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Frozen Wild Blueberries
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Credit: Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA)

A new scientific review summarizes the growing body of research on wild blueberries and cardiometabolic health, which includes factors like blood vessel function, blood pressure, blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and blood sugar (glucose).

The review was published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition and developed from an expert symposium hosted by the Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA) in Bar Harbor, Maine.1 Twelve experts participated in the symposium from the fields of nutrition, food science, dietetics, nutrition metabolism and physiology, cardiovascular and cognitive function and health, gut health and microbiology, and preclinical and clinical models. Financial support was provided in the form of travel reimbursement to the symposium, but no funding was received to support the development of this manuscript.

The paper summarizes 12 human clinical trials on the cardiometabolic effects of wild blueberries spanning 24 years and four countries, as well as dozens of other clinical, translational, and mechanistic studies on wild blueberries, cultivated blueberries, and cardiometabolic outcomes.

The authors report that findings are most consistent for vascular function, while results for blood pressure, blood lipids and glycemic control are promising but underscore the need for larger, well-controlled clinical research studies.

The paper also explores related health outcomes impacted by overall cardiometabolic wellness, such as gut health and cognitive function.

A deeper look at the findings:1

Improved blood vessel function

Across the clinical literature, improvements in blood vessel function are one of the most consistent findings. Trials included in the review suggest wild blueberries can help support endothelial function (or how well blood vessels relax and respond to stimuli), sometimes within hours after a single serving and in other cases with regular intake over weeks or months.

Beneficial changes to the gut microbiome

The authors of the review explain that wild blueberries provide fiber and polyphenols that reach the colon (only about ~5–10% of these compounds are metabolized/absorbed in the small intestine) and are transformed by gut microbes into metabolites that can be absorbed into blood circulation. Microbial metabolites may also account for up to 40% of the active compounds in blood after eating polyphenol-rich foods like wild blueberries. In a six-week clinical study, adults who consumed 25 grams of freeze-dried wild blueberry powder daily increased beneficial Bifidobacterium species. The review highlights the gut microbiome as a likely contributor to the berries’ cardiometabolic effects, but more research is needed to better understand their role.

Sharper thinking and memory

The review summarizes clinical intervention studies in older adults showing wild blueberry intake may support aspects of cognitive performance, possibly due to benefits on whole body circulation among other cardiometabolic improvements, including thinking speed and memory, in both single-serving and longer interventions.

Clinically relevant improvements to blood pressure, lipids and glycemic control

For people with elevated cardiometabolic risk, several studies in the review show clinical improvements in blood pressure, glycemic control, and lipid markers such as total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides following weeks of wild blueberry intake. The researchers note that baseline health status, medications, background diet, and differences in metabolism and the gut microbiome may influence outcomes. The authors encourage more research designed to identify “responders,” clarify optimal dosing and food forms, and evaluate a broader set of biomarkers.

How wild blueberries may work

“What makes wild blueberries remarkable is that they contain numerous polyphenols and nutrients and don’t appear to exert their health benefits through just one mechanism,” explains Sarah A. Johnson, PhD, RDN, Associate Professor at Florida State University, registered dietitian nutritionist, and lead author of the review. “The evidence suggests these berries may support multiple biological pathways relevant to cardiometabolic health, from blood vessel function to inflammation and oxidative stress, with effects that can vary from person to person. Recent research on the role of the gut microbiome in determining their health benefits is exciting and may help researchers determine ways to support the gut microbiome to enhance their health benefits.”

The review describes several pathways that may be involved, including nitric oxide signaling that supports healthy circulation, inflammation and oxidative stress pathways, lipid and glucose metabolism, and interactions with the gut microbiome.

How much and how often?

In this review, wild blueberries were studied in multiple forms. Benefits have been observed when consumed regularly over weeks or months and with practical amounts. This means aiming to eat about one cup of wild blueberries every day.

Most wild blueberries are available frozen, making them easy to keep on hand year-round. Try adding them to smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, salads, or baked goods.

Why wild blueberries are special

Wild blueberries, also called lowbush blueberries, grow in Maine and Eastern Canada and challenging conditions such as harsh winters. These stressors can stimulate the plants to produce a diverse profile of protective compounds, including polyphenols such as anthocyanins. Wild blueberries contain around 30 distinct anthocyanin forms.

“Wild blueberries have been valued by people for thousands of years,” notes Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, PhD, FACN, Professor of Clinical Nutrition at the University of Maine and co-lead author on the study. “Traditional knowledge recognized their value, and today’s research continues to explore how the unique composition of wild blueberries may support health when eaten as part of an overall balanced diet.”

Reference:

Johnson SA, et al. Wild blueberries and cardiometabolic health: A current review of the evidence. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Published online ahead of print January 24, 2026. Doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2025.2610406.

About the Wild Blueberry Association of North America

The Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA) is a trade association representing wild blueberry farmers and processors in Maine and Eastern Canada. WBANA supports and shares research exploring the health potential of wild blueberries and provides recipes and nutrition information for consumers. Learn more at www.wildblueberries.com.

Journal

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition

DOI

10.1080/10408398.2025.2610406

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Wild blueberries and cardiometabolic health: a current review of the evidence

Article Publication Date

24-Jan-2026

COI Statement

No funding was received to support the development of this manuscript. Financial support was provided in the form of travel reimbursement to the symposium, and the symposium was funded by the WBANA. Several co-authors of the review currently have grants funded by WBANA.

'Swiftynomics' explores how women power, redefine economy

Book by economist, population data expert shows how women drive, thrive in workforce in both spectacular and overlooked ways

University of Kansas

LAWRENCE — Taylor Swift is a behemoth of entertainment, driver of an economic engine worth billions. A new book from a University of Kansas scholar shows how Taylor Swift and her unprecedented success illustrate how women, whether global icons or working moms, power the economy.

“Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy,” by Misty Heggeness, associate professor of public affairs & administration and associate research scientist in KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research, explores the concept of “Swiftynomics,” or how women influence the economy in ways both spectacular and often unrecognized.

Published by the University of California Press, “Swiftynomics” is available Jan. 27.

A renowned economist, Heggeness has long studied the role of women and young people in the economy. Also an avowed Swifty, she noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, large numbers of women had to balance work with caring for their families.

“The data was showing different outcomes for mothers than it was for women without children. I had been writing a lot on the topic, and this was during the pandemic when Taylor released her albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore,’” Heggeness said. “It felt like so many of us were being forced to adjust work schedules and take on more care work — having to be more productive with the same 24 hours in a day. Taylor had found a way to continue being productive as well. I was impressed and decided a book about women and the economy needed a muse like Taylor.”

The resulting book tells its story through three main themes:

The first examines Swift’s Eras Tour, a global tour of concerts, concert films and sold-out arenas that generated billions of dollars in revenue.
It also coincided with Swift’s legal battles with Ticketmaster and her efforts to reclaim her intellectual property by rerecording Taylor’s Versions of her albums.
Heggeness explores how 2023, the main year of the tour, coincided with women experiencing growing economic power and how it grew from the previous decade of economic trends.

The book also covers how women have historically been influential in the American economy, sharing stories of women like Francis Perkins, the first woman U.S. secretary of labor. Perkins, and many other unsung examples, illustrate how women have long not only survived, but thrived, in fields like economics, historically dominated by men, Heggeness said.

“Women have always presented themselves as economic agents, but that has often been ignored in history,” she said.

Finally, Heggeness offers policy prescriptions to help build a more sustainable environment for women in the economy and workplace, recognizing the contributions they have and continue to make and highlighting new opportunities where women have thrived. Throughout, she shares robust data blended with pop culture and accessible anecdotes about women, both famous and not, who have left the old system behind to thrive economically on their own while building opportunities for others.

Heggeness will take part in a tour of book talks, including a release day event at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at Monarch Books & Gifts in Overland Park and a fireside chat with Barbara Bichelmeyer, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at Unity Temple, Kansas City, Missouri, sponsored by Rainy Day Books. Both events are open to the public.

Heggeness, founder and co-director of the Kansas Population Center and former principal economist and senior adviser at the U.S. Census Bureau, also created The Care Board in 2025, an innovative, interactive site that gathers information from numerous sources to illustrate the critical economic significance of care work that Americans do every day.

“One of my goals with this book is to get more women into economics and realize they can see themselves in it, and how they have always been part of the field,” Heggeness said. “I’ve always been passionate about helping women feel like they belong and really want to reach college-aged women and men as well, who will be the next generation of economists, professionals and caregivers who drive the economy for everyone.”

Scientists find hidden diversity inside common brain parasite

UC Riverside study reshapes understanding of toxoplasmosis and identifies new paths for treatment

University of California - Riverside

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A University of California, Riverside team of scientists has found that Toxoplasma gondii, a common parasite affecting up to one-third of the global population, is far more complex than previously believed. The findings, published in Nature Communications, offer new insight into how T. gondii causes disease and why it has been so difficult to treat.

Humans commonly contract toxoplasmosis by eating undercooked meat or through exposure to contaminated soil or cat feces. The parasite is best known for its ability to hide in the body by forming tiny cysts in the brain and muscles.

Most people who are infected never notice any symptoms. However, the parasite remains in the body for life as cysts, which can contain hundreds of parasites. The parasites they lodge can become active again later, however, especially in people with weakened immune systems, leading sometimes to serious problems affecting the brain or eyes. Most people who are infected never notice any symptoms. Infection during pregnancy can cause serious complications for developing babies with limited immune systems.

Until now, scientists believed that the cysts contained a single, uniform type of parasite lying dormant until it reactivated. But using advanced single-cell analysis techniques, the UC Riverside team discovered that each cyst contains multiple distinct subtypes of parasites, each with different biological roles.

“We found the cyst is not just a quiet hiding place — it’s an active hub with different parasite types geared toward survival, spread, or reactivation,” said Emma Wilson, a professor of biomedical sciences in the UCR School of Medicine who led the study.

Wilson explained that cysts form slowly under immune pressure and are encased in a protective wall, housing hundreds of slow-replicating parasites called bradyzoites. Although microscopic, cysts are relatively large for intracellular pathogens, reaching up to 80 microns in diameter, with each bradyzoite measuring roughly five microns in length. They reside primarily within neurons but are also commonly found in skeletal and cardiac muscle, which is important since humans are often infected by consuming undercooked meat containing these cysts.

According to Wilson, cysts are clinically and biologically significant for several reasons. They are resistant to all existing therapies and remain in the body once established. They facilitate transmission between hosts. When reactivated, bradyzoites convert into fast-replicating tachyzoites that disseminate throughout tissues, causing severe disease such as toxoplasmic encephalitis (neurological damage) or retinal toxoplasmosis (vision loss).

“For decades, the Toxoplasma life cycle was understood in overly simplistic terms, conceptualized as a linear transition between tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages,” Wilson said. “Our research challenges that model. By applying single-cell RNA sequencing to parasites isolated directly from cysts in vivo, we found unexpected complexity within the cyst itself. Rather than a uniform population, cysts contain at least five distinct subtypes of bradyzoites. Although all are classified as bradyzoites, they are functionally different, with specific subsets primed for reactivation and disease.”

Wilson acknowledged that studying cysts has long been a technical challenge. They grow slowly, are embedded deep within tissues like the brain, and do not form efficiently in standard laboratory cultures. As a result, most genetic and molecular studies of Toxoplasma have focused on tachyzoites grown in vitro, leaving the biology of cyst-resident bradyzoites poorly understood.

“Our work overcomes those limitations by using a mouse model that closely mirrors natural infection,” Wilson said. “Because mice are a natural intermediate host for Toxoplasma, their brains can harbor thousands of cysts. By isolating these cysts, digesting them enzymatically, and analyzing individual parasites, we were able to gain a view of chronic infection as it occurs in living tissue.”

Wilson explained that current treatments for toxoplasmosis can control the fast-growing form of the parasite that causes acute illness, but no existing drugs can eliminate the cysts.

“By identifying different parasite subtypes inside cysts, our study pinpoints which ones are most likely to reactivate and cause damage,” she said. “This helps explain why past drug development efforts have struggled and suggests new, more precise targets for future therapies.”

Congenital toxoplasmosis remains a major concern when primary infection occurs during pregnancy, potentially leading to severe fetal outcomes. Although prior immunity typically protects the fetus, routine screening is lacking in some countries, reflecting how difficult it is to manage an infection that is common but usually symptom-free.

Despite its prevalence, toxoplasmosis has received relatively little attention compared to other infectious diseases. Wilson hopes her team’s work will help shift that perspective.

“Our work changes how we think about the Toxoplasma cyst,” she said. “It reframes the cyst as the central control point of the parasite’s life cycle. It shows us where to aim new treatments. If we want to really treat toxoplasmosis, the cyst is the place to focus.”

Wilson was joined in the study by Arzu Ulu, Sandeep Srivastava, Nala Kachour, Brandon H. Le, and Michael W. White. Wilson and White are co-corresponding authors of the paper.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

The title of the paper is “Bradyzoite subtypes rule the crossroads of Toxoplasma development.”

The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 26,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual impact of more than $2.7 billion on the U.S. economy. To learn more, visit www.ucr.edu.