GLOBAL – Cranberries, the small, hard, round, red fruits with a flavor that many describe as both bitter and sour, might just be the solution for you as you age and your brain function starts to diminish.
A new study published in Frontiers in Nutrition has found that daily cranberry consumption improved memory and brain function in older adults.
Cranberries are a rich source of polyphenols such as anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavanols and hydroxycinnamic acids, bioactive compounds that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and other effects.
However, not much is known about the effect of cranberries on cognitive performance, researchers contended.
Seeking to determine their impact on memory function, researchers conducted a 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that involved 60 adults ages 50 to 80 years.
The participants were administered freeze-dried cranberry powder (the equivalent of 1 cup or 100 grams of fresh cranberries) daily or placebo.
The cranberry powder was calculated to provide 281 mg proanthocyanidins, with increase of 20 mg flavanols and 59 mg anthocyanins per day.
“Daily supplementation with freeze-dried cranberry extract led to significant improvements in episodic memory performance, which coincided with increased perfusion of key neural areas which support cognition in older adults”
People who were previously diagnosed with dementia, a significant neurological condition or significant memory complaints, among other criteria, were excluded from the trial, the study revealed.
To measure the impact of daily cranberry intake on cognition, brain function and biomarkers of neuronal signaling, participants underwent an extensive cognitive assessment.
The assessment measured memory and executive function, provided blood samples, and received an MRI scan before and after the 12-week intervention.
The results showed daily cranberry supplementation equivalent to 1 cup of cranberries over 12 weeks improved episodic memory performance and neural functioning.
“Daily supplementation with freeze-dried cranberry extract led to significant improvements in episodic memory performance, which coincided with increased perfusion of key neural areas which support cognition in older adults,” researchers wrote.
Working memory and executive functioning were unaltered by cranberry consumption, results showed, despite that other flavonoid-rich juices such as blueberry, Concord grape juice and orange juice have shown benefits in these areas.
Explaining this phenomenon, the reseachers wrote: “This could in part relate to the distinct polyphenolic composition of each distinct intervention”.
Similarly, cranberry intervention had no impact on structural grey matter or white matter hyperintensities (WMH)—a type of brain tissue damage associated with cognitive decline—between groups over the 12-week period of investigation.
Interestingly, cranberry intake significantly decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol and total cholesterol.
This study and others investigating the benefits of foods and beverages for dementia—a disease for which there is no treatment—may yield solutions that can help aging populations not only live longer, but maintain a higher quality of life as they age.
This is particularly important in this era where People are living longer, exposing them to diseases of the elderly, like dementia—which affects more than 55 million people worldwide, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International.
Future breakthroughs will be particularly important in finding dietary solutions to quality old age life as the number of vulnerable people is expected to double every 20 years to reach almost 140 million in 2050.
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