Including blueberries in the daily diet can help prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, according to the results of a new study that has confirmed the neuroprotective potential of these bluish berries that you can consume raw, or as an ingredient in sauces, ice cream, jams, tarts, biscuits…
The new research, published in Frontiers in nutrition, studied the effects of eating the equivalent of one cup of blueberries a day for 12 weeks on brain function and cholesterol in 60 cognitively healthy people between the ages of 50 and 80. . Half ate freeze-dried blueberry powder – equivalent to one cup or 100g of fresh blueberries – each day, and the rest took a placebo.
The results showed that blueberry consumption significantly improved participants’ memory of everyday events (visual episodic memory), neuronal functioning, and blood supply to the brain (cerebral perfusion). “We found that participants who consumed the blueberry powder showed significantly improved episodic memory performance in combination with better circulation of essential nutrients like oxygen and glucose to important parts of the brain that support cognition, specifically consolidation and retrieval. of memory”, explained Dr. David Vauzour, from the Norwich Medical School of the University of East Anglia (UEA), in the United Kingdom.
Blueberries may improve vascular health and help improve brain perfusion and cognition
“The blueberry group also exhibited a significant decrease in levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol, which is known to contribute to atherosclerosis, the thickening or hardening of the arteries that occurs when plaque builds up on the inner lining of a artery. This supports the idea that blueberries can improve vascular health and help improve brain perfusion and cognition.
Diet rich in flavonoids to stop cognitive deterioration
Dr. Vauzour has highlighted that “dementia is expected to affect around 152 million people by 2050” and that “there is no known cure, so it is crucial that we look for modifiable lifestyle interventions, such as diet , which could help reduce the risk and burden of the disease”. And he adds: “Demonstrating in humans that blueberry supplementation can improve cognitive performance and identifying some of the mechanisms responsible is an important step for this field of research.”
This expert has pointed out that previous works have shown that including a greater amount of flavonoids in the diet is associated with a delay in the onset of cognitive impairment and dementia, and that “foods rich in anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, which give berries its red, blue or purple color enhances cognition.” “Blueberries are rich in these micronutrients and have been recognized for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.”
A 12-week cranberry intervention was able to produce significant improvements in memory and neural function
And it is that more and more benefits of blueberries for health are known, and another recent study carried out in the United States and published in Nutrients, in which 33 adults between 50 and 65 years of age who were prediabetic and overweight participated, found that those who received blueberry supplementation experienced improvement in cognitive tasks that relied on executive control and lower fasting insulin levels, which improved their metabolic function.
“The findings of this study are very encouraging, especially considering that a relatively short 12-week cranberry intervention was able to produce significant improvements in memory and neuronal function,” he added. “This lays an important foundation for future research in the area of blueberries and neurological health,” concludes Dr. Vauzour.
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