Health Foods
Blueberries are beautiful and healthful. Twenty-first century research on blueberry and other juices from plants reminds me of the research conducted with plants in the last century that yielded so many types of medications, such as narcotics and antibiotics.
Recently, researchers have observed the effectiveness of blueberries at reversing age-related deficits in memory. The flavenoids, in particular the anthrocyanins and flavanols of blueberry-induced memory improvements.
Effects are mediated by activation of signaling proteins via a specific pathway in the hippocampus, part of the brain that manages learning and memory (Williams, 2008).
Berries are being studied in laboratories worldwide for their cancer chemopreventative and cancer therapeutic actions (Hope, 2004).
Early adopters of juice drinking may prove to be the truly forward thinkers and therefore healthiest of the boomers who reach their eighth and ninth decades of life in a uniquely healthy condition.
Nutr Neurosci. 2011 May;14(3):119-25.
Antioxidant and neuroprotective properties of blueberry polyphenols: a critical review.
Giacalone M, Di Sacco F, Traupe I, Topini R, Forfori F, Giunta F.
Source
Intensive Care Unit, Department of Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this work was to highlight the effects and the possible mechanisms of the action of blueberry polyphenols on the central nervous system (CNS).
METHODS:
An analysis was carried out, in a temporal order, of the most important literature about this topic and the results have been correlated with the beneficial and protective effects, mainly concerning the CNS.
DISCUSSION:
Over the last 10 years an increasing scientific interest has developed about polyphenols, which are very abundant in blueberries, as they have been seen to produce favourable effects related to neuroprotection and linked to a possible decrease of age-related cognitive and motor decline, as shown by the improvement of such functions in animal models with a supplemented diet. Such effects could not only be explained through a purely antioxidant action but also through more complex mechanisms related to inflammation, genic expression, and regulation of cell survival.
CONCLUSIONS:
Despite the wealth of data from animal studies, there is a relative lack of data concerning human beings, even if some positive results are beginning to emerge. Therefore, blueberry polyphenols could become useful pharmacological agents for various conditions including neurological diseases, but further studies are still necessary to attain this objective.
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