Blueberries and Bone Health

Adding blueberries to breakfast cereal or snacks may help your children ward off osteoporosis later in life.

That’s the hypothesis of U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers who fed young, growing rodents a diet with 10 percent freeze dried blueberry powder. The berry eating animals ended up with significantly more bone mass than a comparable group that didn’t eat berries. Blueberries contain polyphenols, compounds that give the fruit its distinctive color and which may also have bone-building benefits.

Studies are still needed to determine whether the berries have the same effect on young human bones. But with their high vitamin C and dietary fiber content, blueberries are already a delicious way to eat healthy.