Is there any truth in the stories about bilberry having health benefits? If so, what are they, and is eating fresh berries the best way to take it?

Nutritionist Angela Dowden answers…

Yes - there’s plenty of truth in the traditional stories about bilberries having health benefits. In fact wild European bilberries - belonging to the same family as cultivated blueberries - are packed with purple anthocyanin pigments with powerful antioxidant effects.

Evidence suggests anthocyanins may help improve the strength and integrity of blood vessels and reduce the damage to these vessels associated with diabetes and other diseases, such as atherosclerosis (furring of the arteries). Bilberry preparations have also been used in treating eye conditions, and in improving night vision.

Anthocyanins are also used in maintaining the structural integrity of capillaries and other blood vessels which means the berries may also help prevent varicose veins.

Fresh berries are hard to come by all year round, so bilberry juice can be a more reliable way of getting the benefit of these wonderful little fruits. Biotta Organic Bilberry Juice is a good choice.