Blueberries and Grapes Combined Equal Dramatic Decline in Memory Loss and Aging
By Heather Callaghan, Editor
Building on proof that fruit is a life-saver (and not the danger that other media would have you believe), researchers have found an amazing synergistic effect on the brain when grapes and blueberries are combined. So, grab your spoon and fire up your favorite compote recipe as we take a look at this new discovery!
A lot of people obsessively focus on the vitamin content in fruit but they forget that it’s the unique combination of flavonoids, polyphenols, anthocyanins, tannins and other bio-compounds that have a dramatic effect on the body.
For instance, oranges prevent macular degeneration. It is the polyphenols in the fruit that perform this feat, not necessarily the vitamin content.
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…a new study published last month by an international team of researchers from Bordeaux and Quebec gives us new insight into better options.
The team performed a number of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials that tested memory, spatial recognition, and learning on four separate groups of both young and old mice. Half of the mice in each group received a diet rich in polyphenol extracts from grapes and blueberries, while the other half were given a regular diet.
They found that the beneficial effects of a polyphenol-rich extract from grapes were aided significantly by pairing it with a polyphenol-rich extract from blueberries; and that the combination produced a far more robust effect than either one on its own.
The researchers believe that well-being is closely linked to the rate of aging and strength of memory.
They continue [emphasis mine]
Over the course of the trials, the research demonstrated that the aged mice fed the polyphenol-rich diet spent far more time examining objects they had never seen before, while ignoring those they had, could remember where the exit was in their swimming pool despite the start point changing each swim session, and lived a longer sharper life in general during the trials. Strikingly, 52% of the mice who were fed the normal diet died before a single mouse had died from the control-diet group.
After the trials, the mice were found with much higher levels of polyphenols in their blood plasma and brains. The data presented exciting conclusions that daily supplementation of blueberry AND grape extract together improved memory and brain function, as well as neurogenesis – the creation and repair of new brain cells – particularly in the hippocampus, as well as neuro-plasticity, a key marker of age-related neuro-decline.
In an unrelated study, it was found that the anthocyanins in blueberries ward off Alzheimer’s. Anthocyanins are what make fruits and vegetables purple, and it’s also the substance responsible for aiding weight loss.
To the researchers above, results proved that “optimized preventive nutrition may promote the maintenance of a satisfactory cognitive state in elderly subjects and may thus prevent or delay dementia, and contribute to healthy aging.”
What do you think? Can this fruit duo help your memory. This writer has seen dramatic improvement in memory since eating blueberries! Tell us your health results below!
DISCLAIMER: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
This article (Blueberries and Grapes Combined Equal Dramatic Decline in Memory Loss and Aging) was created by and appeared first at Natural Blaze. It can be reshared with attribution but MUST include link to homepage, bio, intact links and this message.
Heather Callaghan is an Energy Healer, consultant, independent researcher/writer, speaker and food & health freedom advocate. She is the Editor and co-founder of NaturalBlaze as well as a certified Self-Referencing IITM Practitioner. She has written over 1,200 articles and wants readers to empower themselves to take back their health!
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