Kamis, 26 April 2012

Strawberries and blueberries can stave off mental decline in later years

Strawberries and blueberries can stave off mental decline in later years

By Jenny Hope

PUBLISHED: 02:55 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 08:03 EST, 26 April 2012

Berry good: Scientists said women could easily up the amount of strawberries and blueberries they ate

Berry good: Scientists said women could easily up the amount of strawberries and blueberries they ate

Eating blueberries and strawberries may stave off mental decline in later life, claim researchers.

They found brain ageing could be delayed by up to two and a half years in elderly women regularly eating high amounts of the berries.

The findings come from an ongoing study of nurses which involves only women, but may also apply to men.

Experts believe the benefits are derived from the high content of flavonoids in berry fruits, antioxidant compounds found in plants which can protect against a wide range of diseases.

The US research team used data from the Nurses’ Health Study, involving 121,700 female, registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55 who completed health and lifestyle questionnaires beginning in 1976.

Since 1980 participants were surveyed every four years regarding their frequency of food consumption.

Between 1995 and 2001, cognitive function was measured in 16,010 women over the age o f 70 years, at 2-year intervals, says a report in the Annals of Neurology journal.

The findings suggest increased consumption of blueberries and strawberries slows cognitive decline in older women.

Those who had higher berry intake delayed cognitive aging by up to 2.5 years.

The authors warn they cannot rule out the possibility that women who eat more berries also have other healthy habits, such as exercising more, which may play a part in the overall findings.

However, they found a greater intake of anthocyanidins and total flavonoids was also associated with less cognitive deterioration.

Experts believe that stress and inflammation contribute to cognitive impairment and that increasing consumption of flavonoids could mitigate the harmful effects.

Brain cells are particularly sensitive to free radicals, destructive groups of atoms made as a by-product of metabolism that can damage cell membranes and DNA.

Experts said the study strengthens evidence that eating berries can stave off dementia

Experts said the study strengthens evidence that eating berries can stave off dementia

Antioxidants help to neutralise free radicals, Dr Elizabeth Devore with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, said ‘Our study examined whether greater intake of berries could slow rates of cognitive decline.

‘We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries may slow progression of cognitive decline in elderly women.

‘Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults.’

Derek Hill, CEO of IXICO and Professor of Medical Imaging Sciences, University College London, said: ‘Later this year, two major drug trials targeting the proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s Disease will announce their results. Many experts fear these drugs will be added to the long list of potential dementia treatments that fail to demonstrate conclusively that they slow cogni tive decline.

‘This latest research suggesting that a diet high on berries can slow cognitive decline in the elderly population is therefore especially welcome.

‘It is a large and well-designed study that significantly strengthens the evidence that changes to diet may be able to delay onset of dementia symptoms.

‘This suggests that we can take further steps to tackling the scourge of dementia in society while we await the arrival of effective new medicines.’

Dr Eric Karran, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘Population studies like this can provide useful clues about the effects of lifestyle and diet on cognition, but we must be sensible when interpreting the results. The study suggests a link between eating berries and slower cognitive decline, but there could be many factors at play.

‘It is not possible to say whether the increased consumption of berries resulted in an increased , beneficial level of flavonoid antioxidants in the brain.

‘Further research will be needed to conclude whether antioxidants in berries are beneficial in the brain and we can’t assume that simply eating berries could protect against cognitive aging or dementia.

‘Previous evidence has shown that eating fruit as part of a healthy diet in midlife could help to reduce our risk of dementia and so eating a healthy balanced diet is something we should all be thinking about.

‘With 820,000 people in the UK living with dementia, there is an urgent need to understand more about how to reduce the risk.’

Carol Brayne, Professor of Public Health Medicine, University of Cambridge, said: ‘Broccoli, blueberries, Mediterranean diet, Sudoku.....it is very difficult indeed to be sure that this is not residual confounding as these kinds of dietary patterns are associated with many other positive attributes, which themselves are associa ted with healthier ageing.

‘Blueberries have been of interest for many years and it’s certainly worth further investigation, but for definitive evidence we have to await well designed trials as this is another observational study.’

The range of consumption in the study was women eating less than one serving of blueberries a month, between one and 3 servings a month and more than one serving a week, and from less than one serving of strawberries a week to more than two a week.

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

  • Newest
  • Oldest
  • Best rated
  • Worst rated

Eat olive oil. It worked wonders for Popeye.

Report abuse

Two Days ago it was Avocados. the magic fruit.....Now it's Bluerries the magic pill..... Says the US Research Team,. But isn't it in the US where they grow these Blueberries. Funny that. No connection I suppose?

Report abuse

A load of codswallop.

Report abuse

well im allergic to berries all forms of them so its out of the question for me

Report abuse

More data mining that shows correlation and not causation. Researchers are getting very lazy

Report abuse

I would but it's a well known fact (in the DM) that the sugar in these evil berries of the devil, that are illegal imigrants anyway, will make you obese and rot your teeth! And anyway, I'm not touching them unless the DM can provide photographic evidence of a Z list celebrity with dangerous curves poured into a designer dress, wearing killer heals, eating this fruit during a staged photo oportunity to publicise a new book that someone else wrote for them.

Report abuse

It's hard enough to afford strawberries in their short season. How can somebody eat them regularly throughout a year? Another bonus for the super rich. Mind you, two year's protection? OK if you're 81 and live to be 83, but then comes 84,85, 86..... - Jim Baggie , Bromham, 26/4/2012 10:58------ Try using frozen berries instead as they are cheaper, though frozen strawberries aren't so great. I add frozen blueberries when making porridge in the morning (and use less sugar).

Report abuse

If you eat lots of fruit then you are more likely to take better care of yourself generally. How can you then put that down to a specific berry?? Wonder who sponsored the study - the Berry Marketing Board?

Report abuse

The Americans eat lots of blueberries so with regard to the mental issue , that blows that out of the water doesn`t it !!!!!!!!!!!!????

Report abuse

Unfortunately as soon as any food is said to be healthy the price of it shoots up. Id love to eat a diet full of fruit, vegetables and fish but its just too expensive.

Report abuse

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Diposting oleh di

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar

Langganan: Posting Komentar (Atom)