Dangers of Bilberry

The dangers of bilberry are few, but you should know about them.

Bilberry has no known side effects. However, before you start taking supplemental bilberry, talk to your doctor.

If you do notice any unwanted bilberry side effects, you should reduce your dosage of bilberry or stop taking it. Bilberry isn't recommended in these cases:

You have allergies, especially to plants.

You're on medication.

You're pregnant or could become pregnant.

You're breast-feeding.

You have diabetes.

Bilberry is not necessarily harmful, it’s that there is insufficient documented research. Better to be too safe.

Don’t Mix Formulations

Stick to one form.

And keep your dosage of bilberry at a reasonable level.

Drug Interactions

Because the anthocyanosides in bilberry may stop blood clotting, there's an increased risk of bleeding if you take blood-thinning medication.

Also, bilberry lowers blood sugar, so it could pump up the effects of diabetes medication. To be safe, avoid bilberry.

If you take any of these, consult your doctor first.

• warfarin (coumadin)

• heparin

• plavix

• aspirin

• ibuprofen

• advil

• motrin

• nuprin

• naproxen

• aleve

• naprosyn

• naprelan

• anaprox

• ketoprofen

• indomethacin

• etodolac