Jumping into the Blueberry Patch

.........Literally (our July Herb of The Month)

Metaphorically and mentally, I spend a lot of time in the blueberry patch, but this month, I get to be there for real. Blueberries are the one of the only plants I grew up foraging (along with cranberries and blackberries), and perhaps that’s why I feel such a deep connection to them. 

I know, I know. You’re probably thinking something like, “blueberries are a fruit, not an herb.” It’s both! In herbalism, we classify an herb as a plant or fungus that has medicinal qualities. That includes blueberry! Blueberry is in season right now, and in a newsletter called The Blueberry Patch, obviously we need to talk about it. Blueberries are not a prominent part of the herbal materia medica, but I think they should be (and they are my favorite), so I’m going to shine a light on her. 

Blueberries evoke images of summer, coastal grandmother aesthetics, picnics and long days spent outside. I grew up going to the highbush blueberry patch every July, picking what felt like an unlimited amount. Unpruned, the bushes are so tall that they’re like trees. July has always been filled with blueberry pancakes, blueberry cakes, cobblers, blueberry on cereal and granola. 

I’ve been loving blueberries for a long time!

This month, I have been harvesting blueberries from my garden bushes, the large patch in the woods, and down at the abandoned blueberry farm (sorry, I have to gatekeep these locations. It wouldn’t be fair to the animals and the locals that rely on these places to advertise them publicly. But I encourage you to go out and find your own blueberry patch! Check for trails near berry farms for seeds that have escaped or been dropped by birds). With all this time spent picking blueberries, you’d think I’d have a stockpile that I’ve been preserving for the winter. Unfortunately, no. They disappear as fast as they come, in large bowls of cereal and handfuls as a snack and pancake breakfasts shared with friends. Any excess goes into blueberry coffee cake. 

Blueberry has a best friend, and her name is pine - blueberries favor the acidic soil that pine provides. Blueberries that grow near pine are much sweeter than ones that don’t. One of my local blueberry patches is in an oak forest, and another is around a lot of pine - the ones growing with her friend pine are definitely sweeter. To create this effect in your garden (if you don’t have a pine tree), you can layer the soil around the base of the bush with pine needles. We use the evergreen boughs from Yule to do this. 

Blueberry would be my friend even if she weren't so nutritious, because of the flavor and the nostalgia she evokes for me. But beyond being a delicious seasonal treat, she’ll go to work for your health too. Blueberries are loaded with manganese, vitamin k, and vitamin c, and fiber. As a fruit, they are relatively low in sugar, but the sugar they do contain doesn’t seem to spike your blood glucose the way many other sugars do.

I like to celebrate plants, but I’m mindful of being careful of how they are presented. As I’ve said before, plants are here to support your good health, not cure you. But the research I’m about to present almost sounds too good to be true. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have demonstrated improvements in insulin resistance in humans and rodents that consumed blueberries. Incorporating blueberries into the diet may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Blueberries are also an excellent source of polyphenols. Many studies have demonstrated their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cardiovascular protective properties. The antioxidants in blueberries reduce the risk of coronary diseases and prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. They may even go so far as to avert neurodegenerative disorders. Note that blueberries won’t cure or reverse neurodegenerative decline, but they may help keep your brain healthy and prevent decline in the first place. 

The fruit is a superstar, but the leaves deserve their due too. With a high flavonoid content (which translates to high antioxidant content), they actually have more antioxidants than the fruit does. Blueberry leaf extract has also been shown to reduce diet-induced obesity in mice. In one animal-based study, two groups of mice were fed high fat diets for ten weeks. The mice that were also fed blueberry leaf extract experienced significantly lower weight gain and improved liver function. Blueberry leaf extract improved glucose control as compared to the control group, down regulated gene expression associated with adipocyte-specific transcription factors (genes that affect feeding, metabolism, and insulin) and upregulated the mRNA expression of adiponectin, “a well-known homeostatic factor for regulating glucose levels, lipid metabolism, and insulin sensitivity through its anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and antioxidant effects.” 

There is no such thing as a miracle cure, but to me, the talents of plants like blueberries are the closest thing we have to magic. Blueberries are an ally to our good health and, unlike so many other plants, they are delicious too. 

*Please note: I adore blueberry, but I am by no means trying to convince you to eat blueberries every day all year round. Like anything else, they are seasonal, and it’s not really great that you can purchase them fresh in the grocery store all year round. I enjoy the bounty of fresh local blueberries while we have them, freeze and dry some for the rest of the year, make a jar of jam, and move on to other seasonal fruits when the time comes. 

A monograph of Blueberry 

Parts used: aerial parts (berries and leaves)

Notable compounds: Polyphenols (flavonoids, procyanidins), flavonols (kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin), phenolic acids (mainly hydroxycinnamic acids), anthocyanins (malvidin, delphinidin, petunidin, cyanidin and peonidin). 

Energetics: Blueberry isn’t a common part of the western materia medica, so I haven’t found enough writing on it to see what the consensus of the energetics is among herbalists. My intuition tells me that the fruit is cooling and moistening, and that the leaf is astringent. 

Origin: North America. A very close relative, bilberry, is native to Europe. 

Preparation suggestions: I don’t think you need me to tell you how to eat blueberries. If you have access to a bush, I encourage you to try making tea or extract with the leaves! You can easily make your own extract by filling a jar with leaves, soaking them in vodka for 6-8 weeks, and then strain out the leaves. 

Notes and cautions: As a food, blueberry is safe for most people, but due to its profound effect on insulin and cholesterol, those who are diabetic or are on medication for insulin resistance and high cholesterol should check with their health care provider and monitor to see if they need to adjust their medication. 

 To harvest: July is their season in my neck of the woods. Blueberries like to have their feet wet, and favor boggy low ground. Look for her in the forest near ponds, lakes, and bogs. Because of their water-loving nature, blueberries are not drought tolerant and suffer in dry years. Leave enough on the bush to share with neighbors and birds, and enjoy! 

This is the fourth Herb of the Month dispatch of The Blueberry Patch. Every month I’ll feature a seasonally appropriate plant and wax poetic about it. Whether you are a serious herbal student or you just want to casually learn about plants, I encourage you to incorporate an Herb of the Month practice into your life. If it’s the herb I profile, great, but if you feel drawn towards some other plant, then by all means, follow that. The practice of selecting an herb of the month is a popular learning tool in herbal schools. If you decide to do this practice, then try consuming your selected herb every day of the month, in different ways. Make tea, decoctions, long overnight infusions, tinctures, mineral infusions, incorporate it into your food, and do all of this with the different edible parts of the plant. When it comes to incorporating a new plant into your life, the best knowledge of how it's going to make you feel will come from your own observations. We’re all different and we won’t all react the same way to plants - knowing what an herb can do for you ultimately has to come from your own experimentation and lived experience.