{"id":1442,"date":"2026-09-24T08:22:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/?p=1442"},"modified":"2026-09-24T08:22:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:22:25","slug":"ufv-researchers-find-blueberries-may-help-trail-runners-pick-up-the-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/ufv-researchers-find-blueberries-may-help-trail-runners-pick-up-the-pace\/","title":{"rendered":"UFV researchers find blueberries may help trail runners pick up the pace"},"content":{"rendered":"

For competitive trail runners, every second can be the difference between winning a race or\u00a0finishing\u00a0a heartbeat behind the victor.\u00a0Two University of the Fraser Valley professors\u00a0are\u00a0now suggesting that blueberries may be useful in shaving those precious seconds off your time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Luisa Giles and Dr. Jason Brandenburg\u00a0recently\u00a0<\/span>completed\u00a0a study<\/span><\/a>\u00a0examining whether highbush blueberry supplements can improve trail-running\u00a0performance.\u00a0Their work was funded through a grant from\u00a0the US Highbush Blueberry Council\u00a0and was published in the\u00a0<\/span>International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Luisa Giles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trail running, particularly when running downhill, can cause muscle damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress \u2014 a process that can damage the body\u2019s cells. All three are strongly linked to fatigue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For their study,\u00a0they\u00a0recruited\u00a0nine\u00a0runners from the local\u00a0recreational\u00a0trail-running community. Those volunteers\u00a0agreed to take\u00a0either\u00a0a\u00a0freeze-dried blueberry powder\u00a0supplement\u00a0or a placebo for seven days\u00a0(three times a day)\u00a0before running\u00a0a\u00a0challenging\u00a022.2-kilometre simulated race.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a break, the runners switched treatments and repeated the process, meaning each participant eventually ran the course once after taking blueberries and once after taking the placebo.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a big commitment for participants, but Luisa says recruitment\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0that difficult.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrail runners are just really into what they do, and they don\u2019t mind a bit of a suffer-fest,\u201d she says. \u201cBut if some blueberries might help them to suffer less or go quicker, they\u2019re keen.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During each race, runners were asked to run as fast as possible, with Jason,\u00a0Luisa,\u00a0and\u00a0UFV\u00a0students\u00a0monitoring\u00a0their heart rate and perceived effort throughout the run.\u00a0They also measured muscle, lung,\u00a0and cardiovascular function,\u00a0along with signs of physical\u00a0stress\u00a0or\u00a0tiredness\u00a0before each race,\u00a0immediately\u00a0afterward and again 24 hours later.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who took the blueberry supplement finished the 22.2-kilometre course\u00a0about\u00a0seven\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0half\u00a0minutes faster\u00a0\u2014 without the exercise feeling harder or putting\u00a0additional\u00a0strain on their bodies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The study\u00a0establishes\u00a0that blueberries help.\u00a0As for\u00a0why and\u00a0how, Luisa has a theory that requires further study.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSupplementation\u00a0may reduce inflammation and oxidative stress,\u00a0which helps to\u00a0maintain\u00a0muscle blood flow and\u00a0to enhance\u00a0the ability of muscles to contract with force. Also, carbohydrates are\u00a0important\u00a0for exercise, and when your stores run out, you start to get tired,\u201d Luisa\u00a0explains. \u201cIf you use them quickly, you\u00a0get tired quickly and hit what we call an exercise bonk.\u00a0Hypothetically, what\u00a0blueberries may be doing is\u00a0opening\u00a0that tap at a slower\u00a0rate, using\u00a0those carbohydrates\u00a0a bit slower\u00a0so you get to that bonk later in the race.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Post-race recovery also seemed to\u00a0benefit\u00a0from the blueberries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When\u00a0participants\u00a0took the\u00a0placebo,\u00a0there was a reduction in muscle performance, measured by jump height, which\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0occur with\u00a0the blueberry supplement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is\u00a0a topic Jason\u00a0and Luisa\u00a0have\u00a0delved into before, publishing\u00a0three\u00a0previous\u00a0studies along these lines.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Jason Brandenburg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0didn\u2019t see any differences in\u00a0those studies, but they were all lab-based,\u201d he says. \u201cThe exercise\u00a0our participants performed may not have been stressful enough\u00a0for the blueberry supplementation to have a meaningful impact.\u00a0Maybe if we increased the stress, they might prove to be beneficial,\u00a0so we took our work into the field.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The interdisciplinary nature of UFV played a role\u00a0in Luisa and Jason investigating blueberries in the first place. Both professors work primarily at UFV\u2019s Chilliwack campus, which is also home to the\u00a0Agriculture\u00a0department.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did a presentation\u00a0on beetroot juice\u00a0for UFV\u00a0Research\u00a0Day a few years ago, and someone from\u00a0Agriculture was there\u00a0who suggested blueberries for their strong connection to the Fraser Valley,\u201d\u00a0says Jason,\u00a0a recreational trail\u00a0runner\u00a0whose research focus is sports nutrition.\u00a0\u201cGiven my interests, and where I live and work, it was a natural fit for me.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luisa,\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0also a trail runner, shares his interest in sports nutrition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe most\u00a0common fuel source for trail running is carbohydrates,\u201d she says. \u201cSome people eat a banana and someone else might prefer one of those goop\u00a0gels.\u00a0They may also use a lot of things\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0heard about on social media, whether proven or not,\u00a0so\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0important to give them\u00a0an option\u00a0like\u00a0blueberries\u00a0that\u00a0may have\u00a0some\u00a0scientific validity.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luisa says\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0been delighted to talk about the results of this work in her classroom, and she says\u00a0there were several students involved in the study, either as participants or assistants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents\u00a0were integral to the project\u2019s success.\u00a0Given\u00a0the\u00a0logistics\u00a0of the study, the number\u00a0of\u00a0lab and field measurements,\u00a0and the time involvement,\u00a0it\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0have been possible without the\u00a0help of UFV students,\u201d Luisa says.\u00a0\u201cJason and I\u00a0were\u00a0really thankful\u00a0to\u00a0have lots of keen\u00a0kinesiology\u00a0students who were excited to be\u00a0involved.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Story by Eric Welsh \u2014 eric.welsh@ufv.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For competitive trail runners, every second can be the difference between winning a race or\u00a0finishing\u00a0a heartbeat behind the victor.\u00a0Two University of the Fraser Valley professors\u00a0are\u00a0now suggesting that blueberries may be useful in shaving those precious seconds off your time.\u00a0 Dr. Luisa Giles and Dr. Jason Brandenburg\u00a0recently\u00a0completed\u00a0a study\u00a0examining whether highbush blueberry supplements can improve trail-running\u00a0performance.\u00a0Their work … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":1443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77,6,10,72,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-kinesiology","category-news","category-research","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1444,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions\/1444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}