Cognitive Impairment: Blueberries & Grapes for Your Brain

What if a simple supplement could help keep your brain young as you age? Recent research suggests that it’s possible.

A healthy diet can help preserve cognitive health as you age. One of the key features of cognition preserving diets is a high intake of flavonoids. A study that followed 2891 people for 19.7 years showed that the ones who had the most flavonoids in their diet had a significantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s related diseases (Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Aug 1;112(2):343-353).

Two great sources of brain boosting flavonoids are blueberries and grapes. Tons of studies have shown that blueberry supplements can help cognition and memory in healthy, older adult and in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Studies show that blueberry helps middle aged adults and kids too.

A systematic review of studies found that blueberry supplements help memory and executive function both in older people who are healthy and in older people with mild cognitive impairment (J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2019 Jun 18;74(7):984-995). A systematic review of studies on grapes suggested that they improve executive function, processing speed, and spatial memory (Nutr Rev. 2022 Feb 10;80(3):367-380).

So, what happens when you supplement both blueberries and grapes? That’s what a new study set out to see.

The 6 month double-blind study gave 60-80 year olds with mild cognitive impairment either a placebo or 150mg of a combination of grape and wild blueberry extract twice a day.

Seniors with mild cognitive impairment have trouble with memory and thinking that is not serious enough to cause the more catastrophic problems of Alzheimer’s Disease. A remarkable 42% of seniors are affected by it. Mild cognitive impairment is the cognitive grey zone between the normal cognitive decline that everyone experiences with aging and the serious cognitive decline of dementia.

Compared to the placebo, the blueberry/grape supplement brought about significantly greater improvement in speed of information processing, visuospatial learning and executive function. The supplement did all this safely.

This intriguing study suggests that supplementing blueberries and grapes could help keep your brain young as you age, even in people with mild cognitive impairment.

Front Psychol. 2023; 14: 1144231

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For much more on natural help for cognition, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s, see our book The Family Naturopathic Encyclopedia. For more on eating for healthy cognition, see Linda’s The All-New Vegetarian Passport, a cookbook and health book in one!

For comprehensive natural help with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s and cognition, make an appointment to see Linda Woolven now. Linda’s clinic is now open for virtual appointments.

The Natural Path is intended for educational purposes only and is in no way intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. For health problems, consult a qualified health practitioner for a comprehensive program.