Hello and welcome to the Nutrition Devapodcast. I'm your host Monica Reinagel and today I want

to talk about a new research study suggesting that eating more blueberries could help you

hang on to the old gray matter as you age. Now just for context there is a limited amount

of prior research. Some rodent studies and one very small human trial suggesting that blueberry

juice or extracts could help improve memory and prevent cognitive decline in elderly subjects.

The 30 or so subjects in this latest study were all between 50 and 65 years old and were at

increased risk of experiencing dementia later in life. So they did a whole battery of cognitive tests

and then divided them into two groups. One group consumed a daily packet of powdered blueberries

which was equivalent to eating about one half cup of fresh blueberries every day. The other group

got a placebo powder that had the same color and flavor but it didn't contain the anthocyanins

that are thought to be responsible for the positive health effects of blueberries. Now taking

a packet of blueberry powder doesn't seem nearly as pleasant as actually eating fresh blueberries

but it would have been nearly impossible to provide anthocyanin free blueberries as a control

and maybe that's why they went with a powder instead of a whole fruit. The study ran for 12 weeks

at which point they repeated all of the cognitive tests and they found that those who consumed

the blueberry powder performed better on some of those tasks than those who got the placebo.

The conclusion from the researchers was that quote ongoing blueberry supplementation

may contribute to protection against cognitive decline when implemented early in at-risk individuals

end quote. This study was funded by the U.S. High Bush Blueberry Council which also provided

the blueberry products that were used in the study. However, the researchers have no connection to

or financial interest in the blueberry industry and they certified that the funding organization had

no role in the design of the study, the interpretation of the data or the writing of the manuscript

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