Eating more sweet berries can keep our brains healthier

Eating more sweet berries can keep our brains healthier, according to a new study published in the Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society. This news comes at a time when U.S. Census data shows the elderly population increasing faster than the total U.S. population.                    

The study, conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Devore with Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., suggests cognitive decline can be delayed up to 2.5 years in elderly women who eat more flavonoid and antioxidant-rich berries.

"We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries slowed progression of cognitive decline in elderly women," notes Dr. Devore. "Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults."