Want to Relieve Insulin Resistance? Eat your Blueberries!

Scientists from the Center for the Study of Botanicals and Metabolic Syndrome at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of the Louisiana State University have found that bioactives in blueberries improve Insulin Sensitivity in Obese, Insulin-Resistant Men and Women. The researchers measured inflammatory biomarkers and adiposity of 32 obese, nondiabetic, and insulin-resistant men and women and found that after 6 weeks of supplementation with either a smoothie containing 22.5 g blueberry bioactives (blueberry group, n = 15) or a smoothie of equal nutritional value without added blueberry bioactives (placebo group, n = 17) twice daily,

The mean change in insulin sensitivity improved more in the blueberry group (1.7 ± 0.5 mg·kg FFM–1·min–1) than in the placebo group (0.4 ± 0.4 mg·kg FFM–1·min–1) (P = 0.04). Insulin sensitivity was enhanced in the blueberry group at the end of the study without significant changes in adiposity, energy intake, and inflammatory biomarkers.

Being effective for minor improvements in insulin sensitivity, blueberry supplementation is obviously not indicated as a weight loss aid - So don't expect to see "visible" results, if you do not replace your daily chocolate pudding with a hand full of blueberries!