BLUEBERRY BENEFITS

Blueberries can be eaten in all kinds of different recipes. These small blue and purple berries have an extensive list of health benefits, making this delicious snack a great healthy option. Some of the many benefits include protecting against heart disease, supporting healthy skin, maintaining bone strength, and aiding in healthful blood pressure.

Blueberries contain vitamin C, B6, fiber, and phytonutrients, which support heart health. Fiber specifically helps lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood and decreases the risk of heart disease. These berries also contain a flavonoid known as anthocyanin, which can help reduce the risk of a heart attack by 32 percent when the berries are regularly consumed. Along with helping with a healthy heart, vitamin C can also aid in healthy skin. Vitamin C helps your body prevent skin damage from the sun, pollution, and smoke. This vitamin can also aid in collagen’s ability to smooth wrinkles and help with overall skin texture.

When thinking about bone health, getting enough vitamins and minerals is very important, as it helps strengthen and maintain bone structure. Some of these vitamins and minerals are present in blueberries, such as phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamin K, and zinc. These vitamins and minerals are also thought to help reduce blood pressure.

These healthy little flavor-packed berries can be used in many different recipes. You can eat them freshly picked, top them on your breakfast, or bake delicious desserts where they are the star of the show. When using blueberries in your breakfast, you can top oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, or waffles with fresh blueberries or a blueberry jam, jelly, or syrup. They can be added to things like salads or on top of grilled chicken for a savory and sweet meal. When buying these berries, you can buy them fresh, frozen, freeze-dried, and in jams, jellies, and syrups. While at the store, check labels on dried and frozen berries for added sugars.

BLUEBERRY PIE

One of my favorite desserts using these delicious berries is blueberry pie. I love the crisp, flakey crust with the tart, juicy, fresh taste of the blueberry filling.

There are many simple tips and tricks for making a fruit pie. The first tip would be to pay close attention to the filling. When making a filling, a nice balance between a thin syrup and a thick gelatinous filling makes the pie a perfect consistency. When choosing a thickening agent, there are many options like arrowroot, tapioca, potato starch, flour, and cornstarch. Flour and cornstarch are my top two choices because they seem to be the easiest to work with and find in stores. It may be difficult to tell how much cornstarch or flour you need when making a fruit pie. Depending on how ripe and juicy your berries are, you may need to use more or less than the recipe recommends. When berries are in season, you will most likely need more of the thickening agent.

Another essential part of fruit pie filling is the sweetener. Having a sweet treat for dessert is always fantastic until the dessert becomes too sweet. When making a fruit pie, the amount of sugar you use should be limited as you want the pie to be naturally sweetened with the fruit you are mainly using. If you add too much sugar to your filling, the fruit’s natural flavor usually gets lost. Another ingredient you can add to your pie to balance out the sweetness is lemon. To use this in your filling, you may want to add both zest and a squeeze of lemon juice so the acid can help cut the sweetness of the pie.

Lastly, when baking a pie, there are times when the crust edges become crispy before the rest of your pie is done cooking. To avoid this, you can try using a pie shield to cover the crust or crimp tin foil around the crust edges before placing it in the oven.

Fresh fruit is an essential part of a healthy diet. Blueberries are an especially good choice.

(Sources: fdc.nal.usda.gov; http://www.medicalnewstoday.com; thecraftingfoodie.com;)

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