Common Names--European blueberry, whortleberry, huckleberry
Latin Names--Vaccinium myrtillus

• What Bilberry Is Used For
  • Herbal remedy for scurvy. Bilberry has been used for nearly 1,000 years in traditional European medicine.
  • Historically, bilberry fruit was used to treat diarrhea, scurvy, and other conditions.
  • Today, the fruit is used to treat diarrhea, menstrual cramps, eye problems, varicose veins, venous insufficiency (poor blood flow to the heart), and other circulatory problems.
  • Bilberry leaf is used for entirely different conditions, including diabetes.
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    • Ensure systemic balance of biochemic tissue salts
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    • Maintain healthy blood sugar levels
    • Promote healthy pancreatic functioning
    • Treat a variety of symptoms without side effects
    • Optimize the body's receptiveness to other remedies by improving systemic functioning and metabolism
• How Bilberry Is Used
  The fruit of the bilberry plant can be eaten or made into extracts. Similarly, the leaves of the bilberry plant can be made into extracts or used to make teas.
• What the Science Says about Bilberry
  • Some claim that bilberry fruit improves night vision, but clinical studies have not shown this to be true.
  • There is not enough scientific evidence to support the use of bilberry fruit or leaf for any other health conditions.
  • NCCAM has not yet funded any research on bilberry.
• Side Effects and Cautions about Bilberry
  • Bilberry fruit is considered safe. However, high doses of bilberry leaf or leaf extract are considered unsafe; animal studies have shown high doses to be toxic.
  • Tell your health care providers about any herb or dietary supplement you are using, including bilberry.
    This helps to ensure safe and coordinated care.

Bilberry - Bilberry, a close relative of blueberry, has a long history of medicinal use. The dried fruit has been popular for the symptomatic treatment of diarrhea, for topical relief of minor mucus membrane inflammation, and for a variety of eye disorders, including poor night vision, eyestrain, and myopia.

Bilberry fruit and its extracts contain a number of biologically active components, including a class of compounds called anthocyanosides. These have been the focus of recent research in Europe.

Bilberry extract has been evaluated for efficacy as an antioxidant, mucostimulant, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, "vasoprotectant," and lipid-lowering agent. Although pre-clinical studies have been promising, human data are limited and largely of poor quality. At this time, there is not sufficient evidence in support of (or against) the use of bilberry for most indications. Notably, the evidence suggests a lack of benefit of bilberry for the improvement of night vision.

Bilberry is commonly used to make jams, pies, cobblers, syrups, and alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages. Fruit extracts are used as a coloring agent in wines.

The decision to use herbs to improve your health is, as with all health decisions, a personal one. There are, however, many good reasons to consider herbal products to  complement your own health care methods. One of the best reason, however, may be the fact that herbs and herbal products, continue to provide real health benefits while maintaining a remarkable safety profile. Readily available natural substances were the first medicines used by humans. Primitive and ancient civilizations as well as contemporary cultures throughout the world have always relied on herbs to provide the benefits that have been observed with their use. In fact, the World Health Organization has estimated that 80 percent of the world's population continues to use traditional therapies, a major part of which are derived from plants, as their primary health care tools. In our own time and culture, most herbs are available in the form of "herbal supplements." These products are found in the form of teas, tablets, capsules, liquid extracts, and others. We now have ready access to products that bring the herbal traditions from all over the world in a variety of convenient forms. In addition, scientific inquiries continue to develop our knowledge of the benefits of plants, and often validate the observations made over the past centuries.

Are herbs safe?