Wild for the Blues

If you know me personally, you may know that I’m currently living away from home and not making any meals myself. However, I am still learning new things and I want to share my findings with you (or just with my roommate who’s reading this… Hi!).

If you saw my Instagram post from yesterday, we went to a local Farmer’s Market. We picked up locally grown raspberries and my uncle was surprised to see his favourite, wild blueberries, were already for sale as he expected them later in the season.

It may be common knowledge to some, but as someone who regularly shops at her local supermarket, I was under the impression that there wasn’t a huge difference between blueberries and their health benefits.

Boy was I wrong! After seeing and tasting the difference, I’ll be sure to pick up wild blueberries while they’re in season during my stay here!

My uncle is an avid blueberry eater; ever since he was a little boy, he would literally eat at least a cup a day. Blueberries are known for many health benefits such as helping fight the effects of aging. Even though my uncle is up there in age, some people jokingly ask him if he ever got plastic surgery! He strongly believes that his skin elasticity is due to his love of blueberries. He is actually the one who got me eating blueberries seven years ago the last time I visited. Prior to this I was never very fond of them. As he suggests, I will be eating wild blueberries when they are in season and regular cultivated blueberries in the winter.

After asking my uncle and backing up with some research, I found out the differences between cultivated blueberries and wild blueberries. They really are a fruit to eat for beauty inside and out ;)

For a list a differences continue reading below the picture. 

Wild Blueberries vs. Cultivated Blueberries.

List of differences worth noting:

1. One of the primary differences is the antioxidant capacity. Wild blueberries have a greater antioxidant capacity per serving. This is due to the fact that they contain more of the powerful antioxidant anthocyanin. You also get more wild blueberries per serving in weight in comparison with cultivated blueberries. This is also due to their size...
2. Another difference is their physical appearance. Even from the picture I took, one can notice the size difference that wild blueberries are naturally smaller and more compact. This compact blueberry therefore has less water content. This is also noticeable in their taste…
3. Wild blueberries taste a lot sweeter!

For a list of other differences, this website was my main source of information.