Bilberries: The Healthiest Fruit You’ve Never Eaten
The science and pseudoscience of a cherished medicinal plant from Eastern Europe
Growing up, my favorite fruit was a kind of berry that most Americans, or perhaps even most Europeans, have never heard of. Bilberries, or European blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) are a forest fruit grown on shrubs in pine forests and heaths across Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. They are colored so blue it’s almost black, and offer a rich, savory taste akin to a concentrated yet not fully ripe blueberry: not as sweet, but much more flavorful.
Unlike blueberries, they are not cultivated nor available in supermarkets. In Eastern Europe, they are wild-harvested during the summer months, often from deep forests, and sold in buckets directly to consumers on the side of nearby roads. In towns and cities, you can find them in traditional markets, piled up as heaps of fresh black fruit on market stalls.
When I was a kid, our fridge would be stocked with fresh bilberries each summer. Then, at the end of the growing season in late August, we would procure a hefty supply of a dozen kilos from my grandfather’s personal source from a pristine mountain area. We would partition it into plastic containers and freeze the entire amount — enough to last until next summer.
Why would we go through such trouble to eat a very particular berry throughout the year, when its growing season is a mere two months?
A (perhaps falsely) revered medicinal plant
In Eastern Europe, despite modernization, many societies still hold onto their traditional, often rural roots. Traditional remedies such as herbs, teas, oils, and extracts are considered household staples in many places.
According to Eastern European folklore, bilberries are the OG superfood. Both the fruit and its leaves have held a revered place in the apothecary of the local people since the Middle Ages for their purported medicinal properties, which were thought to range from managing diarrhea and inflammation to alleviating urinary problems and diabetes.
Despite modern medicine, bilberries, as well as their tea and supplements, continue to thrive. Among older generations, bilberry leaf tea is among the most widely consumed beverages, as it’s believed to address a whole gamut of illnesses, as one of many popular traditional medicine websites states:
“The tea made from the leaves has excellent diuretic and carminative properties. The herb’s leaves lower blood pressure and alleviate coughing. Gargling with the tea reduces gum inflammation and stops diarrhea. It heals kidney and bladder diseases, as well as inflammatory bowel diseases. We recommend it for diabetics due to its blood sugar-stabilizing effect. It has blood pressure lowering, fever, and cough relieving properties.”
Bilberries are also believed to help treat night vision, cataracts, and eye fatigue, to the extent that, on more than one occasion, I or a family member have been prescribed bilberry extracts by ophthalmologists. Many of the purported medical benefits are backed by intergenerational anecdotal evidence, and the abundance of bilberry tea and supplements in Eastern Europe reflects locals’ enduring belief in traditional remedies despite the lack of scientific scrutiny.
Yet eating large amounts of bilberries and drinking bilberry tea frequently might not be the best idea. Research from Finland found that bilberry — the fruit and the leaves — contains very high amounts of the metal manganese (Mn). Regular Mn intake is necessary for the body to assemble some proteins necessary for metabolism and redox balance, but high doses are linked to neurodegenerative diseases. For bilberries, the recommended dose based on Mn content is 50–100g per day.
A really, really healthy fruit
Nonetheless, bilberries do boast a remarkable nutritional profile, which might make them one of the healthiest fruits. They are packed with essential minerals, including iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and vitamins such as folic acid, beta-carotene, and vitamins A, C, K, and E.
Yet bilberries’ standout feature is their extraordinarily high antioxidant content. They are one of the richest natural sources of anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant polyphenol (plant pigment) widely studied for its anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and neuroprotective effects. Bilberries contain more anthocyanins than superfoods such as raspberries, acai berries, and pomegranates.
Finally, in 2022, a review in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology delved into the scientific evidence behind bilberries’ health claims. The findings were mixed, as most studies showed limited or no benefits, or were poorly designed.
A few older studies indicated positive effects on microcirculation issues and peripheral venous insufficiency. Bilberry supplementation showed promise in improving lipid profiles and exhibited antiproliferative activity against various cancer cell lines in cell culture studies. Some studies demonstrated a potential in treating type 2 diabetes by lowering glucose levels, reducing glucose production, and improving insulin sensitivity. While bilberry extract might help relieve eye fatigue associated with screens, trials on bilberry’s traditional use for improving night vision found mixed results.
While most of the outlandish health claims of bilberries have not been scientifically validated, the lack of quality studies also points to a more general deficit of the scientific and medical establishment to embrace compounds widely used in traditional medicines. Perhaps with more medical exploration, we could see an integration of traditional medicines like bilberries alongside modern drugs, as commonly practiced in Eastern Europe.
Whether bilberry is indeed the medicinal superfood many believe it to be, it still is my favorite fruit. Its presence is woven into the fabric of my family, culture, and in some sense, my flesh and blood. While the bilberry’s narrative echoes an Eastern European way of life rooted in traditions and togetherness with nature, in an increasingly supermarket-dominated world, its lack of standardizability might slowly push it into obscurity. But as long as it still flourishes in the wild, the bilberry offers a tangible — delicious, and healthy — bite of culinary heritage.
