Impressive Health Benefits of Lingonberries

Lingonberries are small, red berries that taste similar to cranberries but are not quite as tart.
They grow on a small evergreen shrub — Vaccinium vitis-idaea — that is native to the Scandinavian region of northern Europe.
The berry is known by many other names, including bearberry, redberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, cowberry, and Alaskan lowbush cranberry.
Lingonberries have been called a superfruit based on their nutritional value and potential health benefits:

1. High in Antioxidants

Nutritionally, lingonberries are most notable for their antioxidants and other plant compounds.
A 3/4-cup (100-gram) serving of lingonberries supplies 139% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for manganese, a mineral that is a component of one of body’s major antioxidant enzymes — superoxide dismutase.
Additionally, a serving of lingonberries provides 10% and 12% of the RDIs for vitamin E and C, respectively — both of which also function as antioxidants.
What’s more, like many berries, lingonberries are rich in plant compounds, including anthocyanins and flavonoids.
In fact, the red color of lingonberries comes from anthocyanins, which may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Lingonberries also supply quercetin, a flavonoid that functions as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. It may help reduce your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and other conditions.

2. Healthy Gut Bacteria

The bacteria and other microbes in your digestive tract — called your gut microbiota — may be a key factor when it comes to health.
Eating lingonberries may trigger changes in the makeup of your gut microbiota that could help protect against low-grade inflammation.
Chronic inflammation plays a role in many conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and dementia.
Thus, adding lingonberries to diet may have anti-inflammatory and gut-health-promoting effects.

3. Promotes Healthy Blood Sugar Levels

lingonberries and lingonberry extract help control blood sugar — which may be partly due to their polyphenol and fiber content.

4. Heart Health

Many types of berries — including lingonberries — may promote heart health. This benefit may be due to their polyphenol and fiber content. Lingonberries help relax your heart’s arteries to support blood flow, slow the progression of atherosclerosis, lower triglycerides, and protect heart cells from oxidative damage.

5. Eye Health

Retina — which converts light into nerve signals that brain interprets as vision — is especially vulnerable to ultraviolet A (UVA) light from the sun and blue light, such as from sunlight and digital devices like smartphones and computers.
Extract may protect retina cells from free radical damage due to both blue light and UVA light. This protection comes from plant compounds, including anthocyanins.
Consuming berry anthocyanins raises blood levels of these protective plant compounds, which can be transported to your eyes.

6. May Reduce Cancer Risk

Fruit — including lingonberries — provides fiber, plant compounds, and vitamins that may reduce cancer risk.
Fermented lingonberry juice inhibited the growth and spread of oral cancer cells.
Extracts may promote the death of human leukemia cancer cells and inhibit the growth and spread of human breast, colon, and cervical cancer cells.

Output

Lingonberries are small, red berries dubbed superfruits due to their nutritional profile and antioxidant content. Lingonberries also help replenish energy and rejuvenate.