Herbal Bilberry, the Atheroprotective Functional Food

Atherosclerosis is a condition associated with the accumulated plaque on the arterial wall. Over time the condition can cause stiffening and hardening of the arterial, leading to cardiovascular disease.

Atheroprotection is an action that reduces the plaque build up on the arterial wall. In other words, anything, including the use of substances such as herbal remedy that prevents the blockage or narrowing of the arteries is considered to precess atheroprotective effects.

Although plaque is formed by substances found in the bloodstream, most cases of atherosclerosis are also associated with the amount of cholesterol which normally returned to the liver in healthy individuals remaining in the blood due to low levels of good cholesterol (HDL) or overexpression of bad cholesterol (LDL).

In other words, an unhealthy ratio of low and high-density lipoprotein is also one of the major risk factors of atherosclerosis. the healthy ratio of blood cholesterol is any number that is less than 4 (LDL)/ 1 )HDL)


Dr. Ilaria Zanotti, the lead scientist in the investigation of atheroprotective effects of (poly) phenols wrote, "epidemiological studies have demonstrated that dietary intake of (poly)phenols from nuts, coffee, cocoa, grapes, and berries may protect against the development of atherosclerosis".

And, "... recently emerging data suggest mechanisms by which (poly)phenolic substances can modulate cellular lipid metabolism, thereby mitigating atherosclerotic plaque formation".


The results strongly suggested a healthy diet including nuts, coffee, cocoa, grapes, and berries may have a profound effect on the prevention of atherosclerosis.


Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The plant berry has been used as herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

With an aim to find a potent ingredient which processes atheroprotective effects, researchers assessed the results of the intake of bilberry foods associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases from the previous study.

2 bilberry extracts included one rich in anthocyanins extracted from untreated bilberries (BE) and a second one extracted from yeast-fermented bilberries (FBE).

On atherosclerosis induced apolipoprotein E-deficient mice (apo E(-/-)) received for 16 weeks a diet supplemented with 0.02% of either BE or FBE.


According to the measurement of atherosclerotic plaque area, administration of both supplementations bilberry extracts led to significant inhibition of plaque development, without affecting on oxidative stress parameters or lipid profiles.


The results surprisingly suggested bilberry supplement inhibited the atherosclerotic development through other mechanisms unrelated to inflammation and lipoproteins.

Compared to BE, FBE showed better protection against plaque accumulation on the arterial walls.

The finding firmly showed that the fermentation must have generated new bioactive compounds which are found in the BE extracts.

In other words, other compounds found in bilberry fermentation are more effective in attenuating the progression of the atherosclerotic lesions.


Taken altogether, bilberry, particularly bilberry fermentation processed abundantly bioactive compounds anthocyanins may be considered function remedies for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.



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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Atheroprotective effects of bilberry extracts in apo E-deficient mice by Mauray A1, Milenkovic D, Besson C, Caccia N, Morand C, Michel F, Mazur A, Scalbert A, Felgines C. (PubMed)
(2) Atheroprotective effects of (poly) phenols: A focus on cell cholesterol metabolism by Ilaria Zanotti, Margherita Dall'Asta, Pedro Mena and Laura Mele ( Research Gate)