Berries Reduce Cognitive Decline?

Increasing our intakes of fruits and vegetables
is one of the best ways to live a healthy life.
(Picture from: http://www.abc.net.au/)

Consuming berries, like blueberries or strawberries, can help maintain brain function in order to remain good due to aging. One study found that women who consume lots of berry fruit senescence show delays in cognitive function up to 2.5 years. Cognitive function refers to the activity of the brain, such as thinking, remembering, and logic. 

"We know that fruits and vegetables is good for our health in general. Our findings add to the idea that we should eat more, especially berries, as a way to help manage memory in old age," says lead researcher Elizabeth Devore, instructor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Results were published online on 26 April 2012 issue of the journal Annals of Neurology. 

Berries and other fruits and vegetables are rich with content such as flavonoids, substances that help protect body cells from damage and reduce inflammation. Berry contains certain flavonoids called anthocyanidins. 

In this study, the investigators searched his data on food consumption from the U.S. Nurses Health Study since 1980, plus collect dietary information every four years. During the period 1995-2001, researchers began to measure cognitive function in more than 16 thousand women.

Commenting on the study, Dr. Robert Graham, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said: “Large epidemiological studies, such as this one, add to the basic science research that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of berries have a beneficial role in age-related cognitive decline. I would advise all my patients, at any age, to eat more berries. Berries are an easy, nutritious and delicious way preserve brain function.”

“Flavonoids, which are antioxidants found in berries, apples, citrus fruits, tea, red wine and onions, have been shown to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancers,” explained nutritionist Nancy Copperman, director of public health initiatives at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y.

Copperman, the nutritionist, said that “the current study demonstrates that women who consumed the most flavonoids, especially berries, had a slower cognitive decline over time than women with lower intakes. Increasing our intakes of fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to live a healthy life.”

While the study found an association between eating berries and maintaining mental function, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.. *** [HEALTH DAY | AMIRULLAH | KORAN TEMPO 3870]
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