Brain Regeneration: New Research 2021
Dear Friends
Yes, you can actually think better by consuming a cup of blueberries a day.
Blueberries have a unique polyphenol profile and are an excellent source of various anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds such as proanthocyanidins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids.
The present study, by Rutledge, G. A. et al, 2021, correlated 1 cup a day of blueberries or daily supplementation with blueberry powder improved cognition after a consistent consumption of 90 days.
Rutledge et al., (2021) aimed to explore changes in the concentrations of anthocyanins and phenolic acid metabolites in plasma samples. The blood samples results were collected from their recently published randomized, double-blind, 2-arm, parallel study that reported positive cognitive effects in healthy older adults supplemented with blueberry verses the control.
Participants in the blueberry study group consumed 24g day of lyophilized, cultivated blueberry, Tifblue variety. 24g is equivalent to 1 cup per day of blueberry, or 12 g powder in ∼1 cup water taken with each morning and evening meal. This dose of blueberry contained ∼36 mg total phenolics, ∼19.2 mg anthocyanins and contributed ∼90 kcal day to the diet.
Regarding circulating phenolics: a two-way analysis of variance showed that blueberry significantly altered plasma concentrations of hippuric acid (A), syringic acid (B), ferulic acid-glucuronide ©, and phloroglucinaldehyde (D) at the postprandial time-point compared to control.
Regarding circulating anthocyanin concentrations in subjects consuming blueberry or control at fasting (fast) and postprandial (post) timepoints: a two-way analysis of variance showed that blueberry significantly altered plasma concentrations of petunidin-3-O-glucoside (A), petunidin glucuronide (B), and peonidin-3-O-xyloside © at the postprandial timepoint only.
Further post hoc comparisons of postprandial samples from the BB group showed significantly higher concentrations of cyanidin-3-O-galactoside (day 45 and 90), cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (day 90), malvidin-3-O-galactoside (day 45 and 90), malvidin-3-O-glucoside (day 45 and 90), petunidin-3-O-glucoside (day 45), peonidin glucuronide (day 45 and 90), and peonidin-3-O-xyloside (day 45 and 90) compared to the control group. As observed with the phenolic acids, the concentrations of these anthocyanins did not significantly differ between days 45 and 90, with the exception of peonidin glucuronide whose concentration was significantly lower at day 90 compared to day 45, however still significantly higher than baseline.
These studies demonstrated that blueberry metabolites peak at different times during a 24 h period post-consumption and some metabolites exhibit biphasic patterns. Furthermore, a consistent daily consumption of blueberry leads to the retention and persistence of some phenolic acid compounds over a longer period than is observed in acute studies.
The purpose of this study was to quantify plasma phenolic acids and anthocyanin concentrations in the plasma of healthy older adults supplemented with blueberry or control over 90 days. This is the first study to characterize blueberry polyphenol profiles after 90 days of chronic feeding in older adults.
Plasma phenolic acid and anthocyanin concentrations were significantly altered after 90 days of BB consumption compared to the control, and concentrations of these plasma phenolics correlated with improvements in cognition.
These findings demonstrate that the addition of one cup of blueberries or equivalent of one capsule of powdered or extract of blueberries to the diets of adults significantly alters levels of circulating phenolic compounds which are related to improvements in cognition.
The BioImmersion Blueberry Extract is a very serious product, concentrating the phenolics of the whole fruit responsible for its therapeutic benefits. Each capsule contains 500mg of this precious extract, equivalent to one and a quarter cups of blueberries. In fact, it takes 80 lbs. of blueberries to get 1 lb. of this extract!
Recommended dose: 1–2 capsules daily.
