Summer’s officially here, which means it’s beach trunks and bikini season. Looking to blast some fat before you head to the beach? Swing by a you-pick-‘em farm on the way and grab a bucket of blueberries.

These tiny superfruits are packed with dietary fiber, vitamin C, manganese and free radical-fighting polyphenols [polly-FEE-nols] that help prevent cancer. Studies have found that blueberries can prevent hardening of the arteries, lower blood pressure, improve insulin sensitivity, boost memory and now, as a recent study found, even fight fat.

Researchers from Texas Woman’s University found that the polyphenols in the petite berries really take it to fat cells, cutting their numbers by seventy-three percent. Even the smallest dose led to a twenty-seven percent decrease.

Plant polyphenols, such as those in blueberries, have been known to combat the development of fat cells. In fact, polyphenols collapse fat cells through a process called lipolysis [lih-PAH-lih-sis], which is the breakdown of lipids or fat.

The Texas Woman’s University researchers fed mice different doses of blueberries and discovered the berries slow down the process in which a normal cell turns into a fat-storing cell. Essentially, blueberries block fat.

Although more research needs to be done to determine if the same phenomenon holds true in humans, blueberries look like a promising way to aid weight loss — and not to mention, combat cancer.

Other studies have suggested that the purple pigment found in the skin of blueberries, grapes, blackberries and blue corn also possesses fat-fighting properties.

So if you’re looking to tone up for your next trip to the beach, add a natural weight loss supplement to your routine. Stock up on season-fresh blueberries.