Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), also known as the Whortleberry and Blaeberry, is a small shrub found on heaths where it grows to about 60 centimeters tall. You will find many eye formulas that contain bilberry, including Eyesight Rx. Bilberry herb has more than a dozen anthocyanosides for eye health.
Bilberry dosage
It is not clear at this time what the ideal bilberry dosage would be. For
the time being, a dosage of 10 to 100 mg of a 100:1 bilberry extract comprised of
25% anthocyanosides should suffice.
Bilberry Extract, 80 mg, 60
Capsules

Bilberry Extract, also referred to as blueberry, is a potent extract yielding
key bioflavonoids and antioxidants called anthocyanosides, anthocyanins,
ellagitannins, and proanthocyanidins. A controlled extraction process
guarantees at least 25% anthocyanosides.
Bilberry Supplement Facts:
Bilberry Fruit Standardized Extract - 80 mg*
(Vaccinium myrtillus)
Yielding 20 mg anthocyanosides
Suggested Use: 1 bilberry capsule daily, or as recommended by your health
care professional.
* Bilberry daily value not established.
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Eyesight Rx with Bilberry extract for
healthy day and night vision
Developed by Ray Sahelian, M.D.
Bilberry and anthocyanidins
Anthocyanosides are the pharmacologically active constituents of
bilberries. They consist of a backbone known as anthocyanidin which is
bound to one of three sugars: arabinose, glucose, or galactose. Five
different anthocyanidins in bilberry produce more than fifteen different
anthocyanosides. The fresh bilberry fruit contains an anthocyanoside concentration
of 0.1 to 0.25 percent. A concentrated bilberry extract however yields 25%
anthocyanidin content, which corresponds to about 38% anthocyanosides.
Bilberry benefit
The benefit of bilberry rests mostly on its ability to provide substances
that are beneficial for eye health. Bilberry may benefit those who have
macular degeneration or are predisposed to a cataract. Phenolic compounds
in bilberry are of benefit as antioxidants.
Bilberry
extract availability
Bilberry extract is available in a number of concentrations and extract
potencies. These include 5 percent anthocyanosides, 10 percent
anthocyanosides, 20 percent anthocyanosides, and 25 percent
anthocyanosides.
Bilberry is a good source
of quercetin
Consumption of black currants, lingonberries and bilberries increases
serum quercetin concentrations.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2003 January. Erlund I, Marniemi J, Hakala P, Alfthan
G, Meririnne E, Aro A.
Biomarker Laboratory, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Twenty subjects consumed 100 g/day of berries - black currants,
lingonberry and bilberry - for 8 weeks. Twenty subjects consuming their
habitual diets served as controls. The serum quercetin concentrations were
significantly higher in the subjects consuming berries compared to the
control group. During the berry consumption period the mean serum
concentrations of quercetin ranged between 21.4 and 25.3 micro g/l in the
berry group, which was 32-51% higher compared with the control group.
According to 3 day food records, there was no difference in quercetin
intake at baseline, but at 8 weeks the intake was 12.3+/-1.4 mg/day
(mean+/-s.e.m.) in the berry group and 5.8+/-0.6 mg/day in the control
group. The results indicate that the berries used in this study are a good
source of bioavailable quercetin.
Bilberry Herb studies
Dietary supplementation with bilberry extract prevents macular
degeneration and cataracts in senesce-accelerated OXYS rats.
Fursova AZh, Gesarevich OG, Gonchar AM, Trofimova NA, Kolosova NG.
Adv Gerontol. 2005;16:76-9.
Cataracts and macular degeneration remain the major cause of blindness
and acuity of vision deterioration in the elderly. Both pathology have
been attributed to damage by free radicals, there has been a great deal of
interest in antioxidants. Bilberry's flavonoids are known as potent
antioxidants, scavenging free radicals and used for multiple age-releted
ocular disorders. There are no experimental studies, devoted to estimation
of bilberry effect. To explore this one the senescence-accelerated OXYS
rats with early senile cataract and macular degeneration were used. From
1.5 to 3 month OXYS rats were given control diets or those supplemented
with 25% bilberry extract (BE, 20 mg on kg of body weight including 4.5 mg
of antocianidin) or vitamin E (40 mg/kg) for comparison. The
testing at 3 month showed that more then 70% of control OXYS rats had
cataract and macular degeneration while the supplementation of bilberry
extract
completely prevented impairments in the lenses and retina. The VE had no
significant effects but both antioxidants decreased lipid peroxides in the
retina and serum of OXYS rats. The results suggest that long-term supplementation with bilberry extract is effective in
prevention of macular degeneration and cataract.
Inhibition of protein and lipid oxidation in liposomes by berry phenolics.
J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Dec 1;52(24):7419-24.
The antioxidant activity of berry phenolics such as anthocyanins,
ellagitannins, and proanthocyanidins from raspberry (Rubus idaeus), bilberry (Vaccinium
myrtillus), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), and black currant (Ribes nigrum)
was investigated. The antioxidant protection toward lipid oxidation was best
provided by lingonberry and bilberry phenolics followed by black currant and
raspberry phenolics. Bilberry and raspberry phenolics exhibited the best overall
antioxidant activity toward protein oxidation. Proanthocyanidins, especially the
dimeric and trimeric forms, in lingonberries were among the most active phenolic
constituents toward both lipid and protein oxidation. In bilberries and black
currants, anthocyanins contributed the most to the antioxidant effect by
inhibiting the formation of both hexanal and protein carbonyls. In raspberries,
ellagitannins were responsible for the antioxidant activity. While the
antioxidant effect of berry proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins was
dose-dependent, ellagitannins appeared to be equally active at all
concentrations. In conclusion, berries are rich in monomeric and polymeric
phenolic compounds providing protection toward both lipid and protein oxidation.
Historical note
Some of you history buffs may recall that
during World War II, British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots mentioned that their
night vision was clearer whenever they ate bilberry preserves before starting
out on their evening bombing raids.
Bilberry extract questions
Q. Is it okay to take a bilberry extract every day along with other
multivitamins.
A. With bilberry extract, as with many supplements, it is a good
idea to take a couple of days off a week.
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Acetylcysteine antioxidant
supplement used to protect the liver from toxic compounds such as acetaminophen
Advance Physician Formulas
is a vitamin company that sells high quality supplements formulated by a medical
doctor.
The phylum basidiomycota are made of fungi that produce
spores that are formed outside a pedestal-like structure, the basidium.
Ahcc, the
mushroom extract, comes from
basidiomycetes type fungi.
This extract has an influence on the immune system.
Berberis vulgaris,
also known as barberry, has been used in the Middle East, Europe, China, and
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Beta sitosterol is a plant-derived sterol, also known as a phytosterol.
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especially plant oils, seeds and nuts, cereals and legumes.
Bidens pilosa is
an annual plant from tropical America with anti-inflammatory properties and
traditionally used in the treatment of hepatitis, laryngitis, headache and
digestive disorders. This plant has a high concentration of flavonoids with
potent antioxidant capacities.
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the Amazon forest in Peru.
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