Blueberries & cognitive performance: What about older people?

Blueberries can make you sharper, but can they also help reduce the risk of dementia? And what about kids?

We know that a diet high in fruits and vegetables has been associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Blueberries contain anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (bioactive flavonoids), among other nutritional factors that may have health benefits, like helping with weight loss. But recent interest has focused not just on their ability to process information and improve memory, but on whether blueberries specifically can help with cognitive decline over the longer -term too.

Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

So, the study I'm going to briefly look at today asks if daily blueberry intake can improve cognitive performance in middle-aged adults with greater risk (overweight) for age-related cognitive decline and dementia. But stay tuned to the end when I talk about how this might also help our kids.