National Blueberry Month: The Health Benefits of Blueberries
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Performance Whey Protein Powder in Blueberry flavor – $17.98!*
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Blueberries may be tiny, but they pack a powerful nutritional punch, and research shows that their health benefits are far reaching. In fact, Baylor University calls blueberries a “nutritional powerhouse,” saying that benefits include improving “cardiovascular health, pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, brain health and cognitive function, gut health and even exercise recovery.”
Blueberries contain anthocyanin, an antioxidant. Anthocyanin gives blueberries their blue color, and it’s what gives them all of these health benefits. According to the Mayo Clinic, in addition to the aforementioned benefits, blueberries may also reduce inflammation throughout the body, including exercise-induced inflammation.
Additionally, a Baylor University article highlighted some promising results of recent studies of the heart-healthy benefits of blueberries, including “lowered overall mortality and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease” and “improvements in cardiovascular and metabolic markers, such as reduced levels of total cholesterol, lipoproteins and inflammatory biomarkers, along with enhanced vasodilation, blood flow and vascular elasticity.”
Antioxidants, such as those found in blueberries, help support the immune system, so regularly adding blueberries to your diet may also help reduce the occurrence of illnesses.
What’s in a blueberry?
In addition to the antioxidants, blueberries contain vitamins C, K, A, E, B6, manganese, copper, and fiber. Plus, they are about 84% water. In fact, just one cup contains 25% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C.
NutritionFacts.org explains that “eating blueberries week after week gives us the chronic benefits of reducing artery stiffness and boosting natural killer cells that defend against viral infections and cancer.”
This is great news—news that should have us all heading to the produce section for fresh blueberries. And it doesn’t take much to reap the benefits. Nutritionists recommend adding just 1 to 2 cups per day to your diet, depending on your lifestyle. That means you can eat them as a snack, add them as a side dish to breakfast or lunch, use them as a topping for yogurt, oatmeal, or pancakes, or create delicious desserts with them.
Now that we have you excited to add blueberries to your diet, we want to share a few of our favorite blueberry recipes, but with a twist! These recipes not only include the awesome benefits of blueberries, but we added PI’s protein powder because we know that it’s often difficult to get enough protein in our diets. So all three of these recipes include our Performance Whey Protein powder in blueberry flavor.
Our Performance Whey Protein powder contains 25g of protein. Plus, it has digestive enzymes and 5g of fiber. Adding our powder to recipes helps give you the protein your body needs. And when you add the blueberry flavored powder to your favorite blueberry recipes, it really enhances the flavor!
So give these THREE recipes a try and let us know what you think!
PI’s Blueberry Protein Muffins
Ingredients:
- 2 cups quick oats
- ½ cup PI’s Performance Whey Protein powder
- ½ cup of wheat germ
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¼ cup milk (regular, almond, rice)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries (fresh is better!)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with muffin cups. Or try these as mini muffins for a fun bite-size snack!
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla.
In a large bowl, mix the oats, PI protein powder, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
Combine the wet and dry mixtures from the two bowls and stir until well blended.
Add the blueberries to this mixture, making sure to stir well.
Add the mixture to the muffin cups.
Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Make sure your muffins have that golden color on top. Use a toothpick to check the center of one to make sure they are fully cooked. Let cool just a bit and enjoy!
Blueberry Protein Frozen Yogurt
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups of whole milk or full-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 4 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 scoop of PI’s Performance Whey Protein powder
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon of honey (optional)
Add the above ingredients into a food processor and puree until smooth. You can eat it right away or store it in the freezer until you’re ready to eat it.
If you store it in the freezer, remove 10-15 minutes before you eat it to allow it to soften.
Blueberry Protein Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 scoop of PI’s Performance Whey Protein powder
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined and dough is not too sticky. If it’s sticky, add a few more oats.
Form dough into balls and add to cookie sheet. Flatten slightly.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before serving; cookies will firm up.
