INTERESTING ENGINEERING – According to a recent study, strawberries may help deter the emergence of dementia in adults with weight issues.
The research found that 30 middle-aged overweight adults who self-reported having modest cognitive loss experienced fewer memory issues and fewer depressive symptoms after eating strawberries every day for just 12 weeks.
The work followed five men and 25 women in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial that saw one group consume a strawberry-based powder and another receive a placebo powder.
The results showed that during the 12-week intervention, individuals who were administered the whole fruit strawberry powder had a decrease in “intrusion errors” when completing a word list learning task.
This is relevant to recognizing cognitive decline because memory impairment is a prevalent symptom of late-life dementia.
Furthermore, individuals who received the whole fruit strawberry powder reported fewer depression symptoms, suggesting the fruit could lead to enhanced emotional regulation capabilities.
Robert Krikorian, Ph.D., principal investigator and professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, said:
“Dementia is a general term that includes many different diseases, all without remedies. It is not clear when or if effective therapy will be available; prevention and mitigation through dietary and lifestyle choices is currently the best approach we have.”
Past research agrees
The researcher went on to say that because dementia is thought to develop across several decades, his team chose to conduct their studies with middle-aged overweight people. Their choice was also influenced by the fact that being overweight has been found to be influenced by inflammation, another precursor to cognitive decline.
Past research on the relationship between eating strawberries and brain health has been undertaken extensively in both population-based and clinical settings.
For instance, studies done at Rush University revealed a link between a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s dementia and pelargonidin, a biochemical mostly present in strawberries …
