Help against bone loss? Blueberries ripe for study

INDIANAPOLIS — Nearly $4 million can buy a lot of blueberries. Purdue University researchers are hoping it also will help find a way to reduce bone loss in older women.

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded $3.7 million over five years to a team from Purdue and the Indiana University School of Medicine to study whether berries contain compounds that could help fight the loss of bone that typically happens to post-menopausal women.

Animal studies suggest that blueberries may contain substances known as polyphenols and flavonoids that help the body's immune system combat the bone loss that can lead to osteoporosis.

"We're going to see if some natural product can help prevent that without drugs; that would be the idea," said Connie Weaver, distinguished professor and head of nutrition science at Purdue and the principal investigator on the project, which was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

But not all blueberries are created equal. In fact, the Blueberry Genetics Consortium recently profiled 1,200 different types of blueberries.

The Purdue study will compare seven varieties of blueberries with one another, as well as with cranberries and bilberries, two fruits that are also rich in these potentially medicinal substances.

The study will include white blueberries, which could help researchers shed light on whether the compounds that turn the fruit purple are the critical ones, Weaver said.

"Can you use any of them, or do they have to have certain compounds in them?" she said.

Although eating blueberries isn't about to hurt you, it's a tad early to assume they will help. Research in humans won't start until the third year of the grant.

That said, plenty of people already buy into the health aspects of the blueberry, said Jennifer Johnson, owner of Johnson's Farm Produce. Based in Hobart, Johnson's sells U-pick and ready-pick berries during blueberry season grown on about 5 acres of the farm.

"People are learning more and more about the colored fruits and vegetables," she said. "I think they're finding out all sorts of things about blueberries."

Rich in anti-oxidants, berries remain the most promising natural way to prevent osteoporosis. Soy, which can mimic estrogen, was once thought to have potential, but studies have raised concern about the food's impact on reproductive tissues, Weaver said.

If not berries, then researchers might start studying plums.

But for now, Weaver and her colleagues will focus on blueberries.

"We got money to study blueberries. NIH is more interested in blueberries than plums because it's more attractive," she said. "Everybody is into blueberries; that's part of it."