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Not only are bilberry health benefits awaiting mountaineers, but the many delights of this tasty plant also await. It is tasteful and sweet, and the berries are slightly acidic. Have you ever tasted them? Their pleasant taste remains for some time, as well as the purple color they bestow on the teeth and the tongue of those who have eaten them.
Bilberries, or their extracts, are efficient remedies to treat varicose veins, vision loss caused by retina degeneration, and intestinal parasites. The juice of bilberries, or their extracts, are also helpful in treating lower urinary infections. It has been proven that when taken regularly during a period from one to three months, unpleasant recurrent cystitis is avoided in those women who tend to suffer from it.
Bilberries are part of several pharmaceutical preparations since their excellent medicinal properties have not been substituted by chemically synthesized products.
Bilberry Scientific Facts
- Synonyms: Whortleberry, European blueberry
- French: Airelle myrtille
- Spanish: Arandano
- Habitat: Mountainous and siliceous soils all over Europe. It can be found in mountainous and cold regions of both hemispheres in America.
- Description: Small, deciduous shrub of the Ericaceae family, growing from 25 to 50 cm high, with oval-shaped, finely toothed leaves and berries first red but dark blue when ripe.
- Parts used: The leaves and the fruits.
How to Use Bilberry
- Fresh juice: Mashing ripe fruits and then straining them. Drink from five to ten spoonfuls with each meal.
- Decoction: Boil 50-70 g of fruits per liter of water for 15 minutes and then strain. Drink the entire decoction during the day.
- Cure with bilberries: Half to one kilogram daily, fresh or cooked in a puree. These fruits are taken as the sole food during a period that lasts from three to five days. Children and adults feeling weak during this cure can drink up to three or four milk glasses daily.
- Infusion of 30-40 g of leaves per liter of water. In the case of diabetes, drink unsweetened three to four cups a day. In the case of diarrhea, drink one cup after every evacuation until feces are normalized.
- Lotion: Maybe applied with the fresh juice or with the decoction of the fruits.
Bilberry Health Benefits
The bilberry fruits contain different organic acids that stimulate action in the digestive system. It also includes sugars, tannins, pectin, myrtillin, anthocyanins, vitamins A and C, and B in a lesser amount.
Besides their nourishing and refreshing properties, they have astringent, antidiarrheic, antiseptic, and vermifuge effects. Health experts recommend them in the following cases:
1. Circulatory conditions of the venous system: swollen legs, varicose veins, phlebitis, varicose ulceration, and hemorrhoids. The many bilberry health benefits result from the anthocyanins that it contains, which protect and reinforce the wall of the capillary and venous vessels; hence, they prevent the flow of proteins and liquid to the tissues, thus reducing edema and congestion. Taking a bilberry supplement also works on the heart, increasing the resistance of the heart muscle.
2. The weakening of the retina and loss of vision: The main medicinal property responsible for bilberry leaf benefits is anthocyanins, which act on the retina capillaries, improving the irrigation of the light-sensitive cells. They are useful to recover night vision acuteness and to improve visual adaptation to darkness.
Bilberry dosage is also recommended for diabetic retinopathy, short-sightedness, and degeneration of the retina caused by high blood pressure arteriosclerosis or other reasons like retinitis pigmentosa.
3. The bilberry plant is also beneficial for those suffering from diarrhea, especially if the diarrhea is caused by a disturbance to the intestinal flora. Also, bilberries can stop flatulence caused by intestinal fermentation thanks to the plant’s antiseptic effect. Bilberry also helps to reduce inflammation and normalize the intestine functions, especially those of the colon.
According to experiments, both the leaves and the fruits of the bilberry plant prevent excessive Coli bacteria growth, which produces intestinal flora issues and urinary infections.
4. Intestinal parasitosis, especially the one caused by oxyuridae, which are small parasite worms that usually live in the intestine of small children. Therefore, health experts recommend a remedy with fresh or cooked bilberries in puree over three days.
The patient should only drink milk and bilberries. According to Dr. Schneider, the success of this treatment has been proven in the Children’s Hospital of the University of Helsinki (Finland).
5. Urinary infections: The juice of fresh bilberries, or their extract, exerts an antiseptic action on urinary organs, such as the urinary bladder or the urethra. For recurrent cystitis, which is frequent in some women, continuous intake of bilberries is recommended to avoid this ailment for one to three months.
6. Bilberry benefits for skin afflictions, such as eczema, folliculitis, and varicose ulceration. In such cases, bilberries’ juice is locally applied in fresh or concentrated lotion, utilizing a decoction.
Bilberry leaf benefits deserve mention. They contain tannin, flavonoid glycosides, and glucose-quinine, a substance that reduces the amount of glucose in the blood. So, they have the same astringent and antidiarrheic effects as the fruits, and they are also hypoglycemic. Thus, they are helpful for diabetic people since bilberry leaves reduce their insulin or oral medicines dosage.
DISCLAIMER: All content on this website is presented solely for educational and informational objectives. You should not rely on the information provided as a replacement for advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified medical expert. If you are pregnant, nursing, or have any preexisting medical concerns, you should talk to your doctor before using any herbal or natural medicines.
REFERENCES
- George D. Pamplona-Roger, M.D. “Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants.” George D. Pamplona-Roger, M.D. Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Ed. Francesc X. Gelabert. vols. 1 San Fernando de Henares: Editorial Safeliz, 2000. 260, 261. Print. [bilberry health benefits]
- Night vision and blood flow: Sandberg et al. (2017), Erri et al. (2016)
- Retinal cell protection: Kowluru et al. (2005), Yi et al. (2020)
- Blood pressure and cholesterol: Basu et al. (2010), Wang et al. (2019)
- Blood vessel function and clotting: Kolehmainen et al. (2015), Yi et al. (2020)
- Neuroprotection and inflammation: Ryan et al. (2015), Vauzolle et al. (2020)
- Alzheimer’s and dementia: Krikorian et al. (2010), Vauzolle et al. (2020)
- Gut bacteria and digestion: Saura-Lopes et al. (2020), Li et al. (2019)
- Diarrhea and astringent properties: Carvalho-Silva et al. (2016), Karjalainen et al. (2009)
- Diabetes management: Basu et al. (2010), Kolehmainen et al. (2015)
- Athletic performance: Kaczmarczyk et al. (2019), Gonzalez-Gross et al. (2020)
- Cancer protection: Lila et al. (2005), Li et al. (2019)