Nutrient Dense Ingredients: Wild / Organic Blueberry Fruit

Read a detailed breakdown of the taste, culinary use and recipes, main nutrient levels, scientific research and health benefits, top quality online sourcing options, how to grow organic blueberries in a garden, and where to wildcraft.

Blueberry Taste, Culinary Use, and Recipes

When fully ripe they are slightly sweet and slightly tart. Wild blueberries are less sweet and more tart and organic blueberries are more sweet and less tart.

Because blueberries have many important nutrients which are heat-labile, which means that they are easily destroyed by heat, they are best consumed raw. They can be used in many different ways such as on their own as a delicious snack, added to smoothies, in a healthy breakfast cereal, added in salads, gently cooked into a compote, and to lightly sweeten healthy desserts.

Nutrient Dense Recipes With Blueberry

~ Blueberry Coconut Water Smoothie

~ Wild Berry Compote

Blueberry Nutrient Levels

Data below is for 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries and is compiled from the USDA FoodData Central and CheckYourFood.com.

Macronutrients

~ Carbohydrates: 3g (3% RDA)
~ Amino acids: 0g
~ Fatty acids: 0g

Micronutrients

~ Manganese: 0.245mg (9% RDA)
~ Vitamin K1:6.755µg (7% RDA)
~ Fiber: 0.84g (3% RDA)
~ Vitamin E: 0.329mg (3% RDA)
~ Copper: 0.02mg (2% RDA)
~ Iron: 0.21mg (2% RDA)
~ Good source of the phytochemicals anthocyanin, myricetin, and quercetin.

Blueberry Research and Benefits

Blueberries have many proven health benefits with the most well researched being support of cognitive health, particularly memory.

Study Title: Blueberry supplementation improves memory in older adults. (Source)

Study Title: Cognitive effects following acute wild blueberry supplementation in 7- to 10-year-old children. (Source)

Study Title: Effect of a wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) drink intervention on markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial function in humans with cardiovascular risk factors. (Source)

Study Title: Recent Research on the Health Benefits of Blueberries and Their Anthocyanins. (Source)

Blueberry Sourcing, Growing, and Wildcrafting

Online Sourcing

Below are the sources I used and recommend:

~ Wild freeze-dried berry powder
~ Frozen organic berries

Growing Organically at Home

Purchase an organic fruiting blueberry bush online and plant on the top level of a Garden Tower 2. The bush can be grown outdoors in USDA zones 2 – 7. This includes almost all of the United States except for the most southern states. If you don’t live in those zones, you can grow them in a greenhouse. Here is a great article from Gardening Know How about growing blueberry bushes.

Wildcrafting

Wild blueberry bushes can mainly be found in fields and forests in the northern United States (especially Maine) and Eastern Canada. Growing up in Washington I had the good fortune to frequently harvest wild blueberries. Eating them straight from a wild bush is my personal favorite way to enjoy them.