Weekly Healthy Advice From VÄXA

Seeing is Believing

Though it has long been touted as one of the best herbs to protect eye health, bilberry is now garnering even greater renown.

A recent study from the College of Traditional Chinese Materia Medic and, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University found that supplementing with bilberry dramatically helped protect the liver from the damaging effects of stress and significantly alleviated stress-induced liver damage.

The findings of the study, which was published in the August 9, 2008 edition of the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry suggest that bilberry extract plays an important role in protecting against restraint stress-induced liver damage by both scavenging free radicals activity and by inhibiting lipid production.

Of course bilberry has long been used for various eye conditions. The active components, flavonoid anthocyanosides, are potent antioxidants with a particular affinity for the eye and vascular tissues. Interest in bilberry was first aroused during World War II when British Royal Air Force pilots reported improved night visual acuity on bombing raids after consuming bilberries. Subsequent claims have been made that the administration of bilberry extracts results in improved night visual acuity, quicker adjustment to darkness and faster restoration of visual acuity after exposure to glare.