Eating a bowl of berries every day might be key to lowering your risk of early death. A 2024 article in the Journal of Nutrition looked at the diets of more than 37,000 people over 8 years. People who regularly consumed any type of berry had a 21% lower risk of early death than people who didn’t eat berries. If you love cranberries, you could reduce your risk of death by 31%. Blueberries aren’t far behind with a 21% lower risk, and strawberries offer a 14% reduced risk of early death. Per the researchers, the flavonoids in berries protect people from early death from cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
Because cardiovascular disease is a common cause of death, a 2016 meta-analysis in Scientific Reports investigated how berries might reduce some of the factors that lead to cardiovascular disease. Eating more berries can lower your LDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), inflammation, and body mass index (BMI).