In recent years, different studies have linked the consumption of blueberries with a reduction in the risk of certain heart diseases and even of developing cancer . Apparently, this is due to the beneficial antioxidants present in these fruits.
Now, a study carried out by experts from the University of Cincinnati Academic Center for Health, in the USA, suggests that these substances could also reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s and improve the quality of life of those affected by it form of dementia.
Robert Krikorian, professor of clinical psychiatry at the aforementioned institution, who has coordinated the trial, points out that “ our work corroborates the previous studies carried out with animals and the preliminary tests carried out on people ; In this way, the hypothesis that blueberries improve memory and certain cognitive functions in the elderly gains weight ”. According to Krikorian, the beneficial effects of these fruits could be due to the presence of flavonoids called anthocyanins, pigments that give them their characteristic color. In fact, in animal models, its intake causes an improvement in cognition and the immune system.
To determine this, Krikorian and his colleagues conducted a study with 47 people over 68 years of age with a certain degree of cognitive disability, which is usually related to the development of Alzheimer’s. One group was given a compound made from blueberries, equivalent to one bowl of blueberries, for sixteen weeks, while another was given a placebo. Thus, they observed that cognitive performance, memory and brain functions, in general, improved among the members of the first, something that was not seen in those who had been administered a placebo. The tests carried out by functional magnetic resonance imaging also proved that brain activity increased in the case of those who had ingested the blueberries.
Image: Petr Kratochvil
