CSU researcher presents findings in London about blueberries’ lowering effects on cardiovascular disease risk

Study details

They ​performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm clinical trial in 43 estrogen-deficient postmenopausal women aged 45-65 years with elevated blood pressure or stage 1-hypertension. Johnson's research team used freeze-dried blueberries to retain the polyphenols as much as possible, and to allow for the study to be double-blind, meaning that neither the investigators nor the study participants knew whether they were getting the treatment (blueberry) or placebo.

The London conference included internationally known fellow scientists whose research she follows. "The people that put on the conference, that attend, that present there, these are all people whose work I have regularly read since I was a doctoral student." Johnson said. "I cite their papers, so it's pretty cool. I didn't submit an abstract for this. They invited me to come."

Johnson, an associate professor and director of the Functional Foods & Human Health Laboratoryin the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, said the research soon will be in publishable form and her Ph.D. student, Emily Woolf, will present the results at the American Society for Nutrition Conferencein June, which will also be part of her dissertation.

Johnson has extensively researched the health benefits of blueberries and other foods such as aronia berries, microgreens, and red beetroot juice.

"We don't fully understand the health benefits and how they interact in the human body," Johnson said of blueberries, "but we know that they're really important to human health."