” Both blueberries and strawberries contain antioxidants called anthocyanins, which have actually been linked in a variety of berry health benefits such as metabolic and cognitive improvements,” stated Krikorian, professor emeritus in the UC College of Medicines Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience. “There is epidemiological information suggesting that people who take in blueberries or strawberries regularly have a slower rate of cognitive decrease with aging.”
Robert Krikorian, PhD. Credit: University of Cincinnati
In addition to consisting of anthocyanins, Krikorian stated strawberries include additional micronutrients called ellagitannins and ellagic acid that have been connected with health benefits.
About 50% of individuals in the U.S. develop insulin resistance, typically referred to as prediabetes, around midlife, which has been revealed to be a consider chronic illness. Krikorian stated the cardiovascular and metabolic benefits of strawberry intake have been studied formerly, however there were relatively few research studies on its cognitive impacts.
” This research study assessed whether strawberry consumption may improve cognitive performance and metabolic health in this population and, if so, whether there may be an association in between cognitive enhancement and minimized metabolic disturbance,” he said.
Research methodology
An overall of 30 overweight patients between 50-65 years of ages with complaints of mild cognitive decline were registered and completed the research study. Krikorian stated this population has an increased risk for late-life dementia and other typical conditions..
Over a duration of 12 weeks, the participants were asked to abstain from berry fruit intake of any kind except for a day-to-day packet of supplement powder to be combined with water and consumed with breakfast. Half of the participants received powders that consisted of the equivalent of one cup of entire strawberries (the standard serving size), while the other half got a placebo..
The participants were given tests that determined particular cognitive abilities like long-lasting memory. The scientists likewise tracked their mood, intensity of depressive symptoms, and metabolic data over the course of the study.
Those in the strawberry powder group had reduced memory disturbance, which follows an overall enhancement in executive ability..
” Reduced memory interference refers to less confusion of semantically related terms on a word-list learning test,” Krikorian said. “This phenomenon typically is believed to show much better executive control in terms of withstanding intrusion of non-target words during the memory screening.”.
The strawberry-treated individuals also had a considerable reduction of depressive symptoms, which Krikorian said can be understood as a result of “improved executive ability that would supply better emotional control and coping and possibly better analytical.”.
Other strawberry research studies have found enhancement in metabolic steps including lower insulin, however there was no effect discovered on the patients metabolic health in this study.
” Those studies normally used higher dosages of strawberry powder than in our research study, and this could have been a factor,” Krikorian said.
Next actions.
While more research is required, Krikorian stated the strawberry treatment might have improved cognitive function by lowering inflammation in the brain.
” Executive capabilities start to decline in midlife and excess stomach fat, as in insulin resistance and obesity, will tend to increase inflammation, including in the brain,” he stated. “So, one might consider that our middle-aged, overweight, prediabetic sample had higher levels of swelling that added to at least mild disability of executive capabilities. Appropriately, the advantageous results we observed might be associated with small amounts of inflammation in the strawberry group.”.
Moving forward, Krikorian said future research study trials must consist of larger samples of individuals and varying does of strawberry supplements.
Reference: “Early Intervention in Cognitive Aging with Strawberry Supplementation” by Robert Krikorian, Marcelle D. Shidler and Suzanne S. Summer, 18 October 2023, Nutrients.DOI: 10.3390/ nu15204431.
This research study was supported with funding and contribution of strawberry and placebo powders by the California Strawberry Commission, Watsonville, California 95076, USA.
New research recommends that strawberries could minimize dementia threat in middle-aged adults by enhancing cognitive function and decreasing depressive symptoms, potentially due to their anti-inflammatory homes. More research study is recommended to confirm these findings.
Current research study performed by the University of Cincinnati recommends that eating strawberries every day might decrease the opportunities of establishing dementia for particular middle-aged populations.
The study was just recently released in the journal Nutrients.
Research study background
In 2022, UCs Robert Krikorian, Ph.D., and his group released research that found adding blueberries to the day-to-day diet plans of certain middle-aged populations might reduce the opportunities of establishing late-life dementia. He said the existing research study into strawberries is an extension to the blueberry research.