Berries can keep your brain sharp

Everyone knows that strawberries and blueberries are good for you. Now a new study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has found that eating as little as two servings of flavonoid-rich strawberries and/or blueberries a week can delay memory decline in older women by over two years. The research team used data from the Nurses’ Health Study, which involved more than 120,000 registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55. The nurses completed health and lifestyle questionnaires beginning in 1976, and have been surveyed every four years since regarding their eating habits. Starting in 1995, memory was tested in participants older than 70 every two years. Women included in the present study had a mean age of 74. “What makes our study unique is the amount of data we analyzed over such a long period of time. No other berry study has been conducted on such a large scale,” explained Elizabeth Devore, a researcher in the Channing Laboratory at BWH. “We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries appear to slow progression of memory decline in elderly women. Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to reduce memory decline in older adults.” So if you eat your berries ... uhhh... you'll remember to eat your berries!