Bilberry and blood fats in overweight women over one month
What it found
In overweight women, bilberries improved blood fat markers for those who started with higher heart risk but worsened them for those at lower risk.
The changes depended on each woman's starting metabolic profile.
What they found
Studies in people
Opposite effects by risk group
Women were split into two groups based on their starting blood chemistry. In the group with higher heart risk, bilberries lowered blood fats and cholesterol carriers. In the lower-risk group, bilberries raised those same markers.
No change in fasting glucose
None of the berry diets, including bilberries, changed fasting blood sugar levels across all participants.
Small HDL triglycerides fell
When looking at everyone together, bilberries led to a drop in triglycerides carried inside small HDL particles. This was the only individual blood fat measure that shifted clearly across the whole group.
Fiber intake rose
Food diaries showed that during the bilberry weeks, the women ate more dietary fiber than they did during the rest weeks between berry phases.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that eating berries changes overall blood chemistry in overweight women, but the direction depends on the type of berry and the person's starting risk profile.
- The authors note that bilberries improved blood fats in women who began with higher heart risk, while doing the opposite in women who started with lower risk.
- They call for larger studies to explore why people with different starting metabolisms react differently to berries.
How it was done
Scientists know berries are linked to health benefits, but little is known about how a person's starting metabolism shapes their response. The authors wanted to see if baseline differences changed how the body reacted to eating berries.
Eighty overweight women took part in a trial where each ate four different berry products in turn. Each berry period lasted about 30 days, separated by rest periods of 30 to 39 days. For the bilberry phase, the women ate 100 g of frozen bilberries every day.
What it can’t tell you
- This trial only included overweight women with slightly raised risk markers, so the results may not apply to men or people of other weights.
- The study lasted about a month per berry, so it cannot show what happens when someone eats bilberries over many years.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Medical Research Council (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- University of Turku, Finland
The paper
- Title
- Effects of sea buckthorn and bilberry on serum metabolites differ according to baseline metabolic profiles in overweight women: a randomized crossover trial
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Larmo PS, Kangas AJ, Soininen P, et al (2013). Effects of sea buckthorn and bilberry on serum metabolites differ according to baseline metabolic profiles in overweight women: a randomized crossover trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition. doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.060590Free full textPubMed 23945716DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error