Just one cup of blueberries a day can reduce your blood pressure and heart-damaging hardening of the arteries, according to research out of Florida State University.

The study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tracked 48 postmenopausal women with hypertension, or on the verge of developing it.

For eight weeks, they were randomly assigned to receive either 22 grams of freeze-dried blueberry powder, the equivalent to one cup of fresh blueberries, or 22 grams of a placebo powder.

At the end of the study, those given the blueberry powder on average had a 5 percent drop in systolic blood pressure and a 6.3 percent reduction in diastolic blood pressure.

In addition, the blueberry group had an average reduction of 6.5 percent in arterial stiffness.