Blueberries and strawberries will keep your brain young

Berries slow down cognitive aging

Elvira Koshkina, Compulenta

Blueberries and strawberries, rich in flavonoids, restrain the deterioration of cognitive function in the elderly, scientists from Brigham Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA) believe.

The researchers used data from the Nurses' Health Study, which involved 121,700 nurses aged 30 to 55 years (at the time of the start of the study). Since 1976, they have been filling out questionnaires with questions about health and lifestyle. Since 1980, subjects have reported every four years how often they eat. In the period from 1995 to 2001, cognitive function was assessed at two-year intervals in women who were over 70 years old. The average age of the participants in the current study was 74 years, and the average body mass index was 26.

Analysis of the data obtained showed that the abundance of blueberries and strawberries in the diet slows down the decline in cognitive functions in older women. Increased consumption of anthocyanidins and flavonoids in general was also associated with a reduction in cognitive degeneration. Scientists have calculated that berry lovers delayed their cognitive aging by 2.5 years.

According to the researchers, their work made it possible to present to the public the first epidemiological evidence that berries can slow the progression of cognitive decline in older women.

The results of the work are published in the journal Annals of Neurology (Devore et al., Dietary intakes of berries and flavonoids in relation to cognitive decline).

Do not forget that blueberries and blueberries help protect the body from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, as they prevent the deposition of fat in the abdomen, reduce cholesterol and blood sugar.

Prepared based on the materials of Medical Xpress: Eating more berries may reduce cognitive decline in the elderly.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru26.04.2012