Lingonberries or vaccinium vitis-idaea, are red tart berries that flock the wild shrubs of Scandinavia and form an indispensable part of Nordic cuisine. These little-known distant cousins of cranberry fruit are much smaller and juicier than their other berry counterparts and are a potent source of preservatives and pectins. Known for their lovely appearance and bright color, these yummy-looking berries have a bitter taste and are best enjoyed as sweetened jams and other gourmet food. Also popular as cowberry, rock cranberry, foxberry and even whimberry, lingonberries come packed with copious nutritive and therapeutic benefits. Lingonberries are potent bearers of essential vitamins, minerals, acids and are treated as an antizyme. They are known to benefit anyone suffering from high blood pressure, poor digestion, frail metabolism and infections. To know more on the essential health benefits of this tangy red berry, read on.
Nutrition Benefits of Eating Lingonberry
- Lingonberry, affectionately referred as the ‘Queen of Berries’ has a nice refreshing taste and is known to boost up the appetite. This wild berry comes packed with a bevy of health and nutritive benefits and is known to profit human health in more ways than one.
- Lingonberry is highly esteemed in the medicinal world for its diverse spectrum of therapeutic actions. Lingonberry serves both as a diuretic and choleretic and is known to strengthen capillary tube too. The berries are treated as carditonic and hypotensive too.
- The pearly red lingonberries are supposedly one of the richest sources of polyphenols. Lingonberries contain berry biocomplex that is believed to have an anti-sclerotic effect. They are also believed to be a rich source of copper, an essential mineral that helps in treating pancreatic diabetes.
- Lingonberry is a popular cure for liver ailments, gastritis, hypertony and gastric ulcer. Its capacity to regulate salt metabolism makes it an effective remedy for treating diseases like renal lithiasis, uratic arthritis and rheumatism. Lingonberry also has antiseptic properties and can be used as an astringent too.
- Lingonberry contains tannins that help to boost the blood vessel walls, resolve mineral metabolism and neutralize toxins, thereby improving digestion and toning up the body.
- Lingonberries are touted as excellent cure for urinary tract infections. These pearly red, ripe berries are found to contain short-chained proanthocyans that is believed to keep away the infection causing bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall. Lingonberry juice when taken along with cranberry juice regularly is likely to reduce the risk of urinary tract infection in women by forty percent.
- These small berries are believed to be excellent source of vitamin A, B and C and are power-packed with other essential nutrients like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and potassium. Because of their rich nutritional value, lingonberries are believed to favor both blood and bone health.
- Apart from being rich in essential nutrients, these humble berries are a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Lingonberries are also found to be a potent source of essential fatty acids and are highly esteemed because of their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. Regular consumption of lingonberries keeps the free radicals from spreading in the body.
- Lingonberries, just like their better-known cranberry cousins, are a storehouse of flavonoids, especially quercetin. Apart from having anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, quercetin has antihistamine properties that help to alleviate allergy symptoms.
- Like most other berries, lingonberries are known to boost the levels of good cholesterol, improve blood pressure. They are thereby held as a productive source of heart health.
- People suffering from allergy or hypersensitivity to lingonberry should refrain from eating it.
- Lingonberry has antigonadotropic properties that may not be the best bet for men, when planning of conceiving a child.
- Lingonberries are easy to store and have a good shelf life. They, hence, rank high as a favorite ingredient for making sauces, jams, jellies, juice and wine.