I read a hot piece of anti-aging news that had all the doctors buzzing at the international anti-aging conference in Malaysia this week.
The journal Annals of Neurology just published a study that’s the first to show that eating certain berries and vegetables can delay brain aging.
Other studies have shown that berries can boost brain performance. But that’s not what I’m talking about here.
This study shows that those who eat more foods with anthocyanidins delay brain aging by up to 2.5 years.1
Researchers looked at evidence from the famous Nurse’s Health Study, a study that’s continually followed 121,700 female nurses between ages 35 and 50 for more than 30 years now.
They have been surveyed periodically on the food they eat, and 16,010 of them who were at least 70 years old were tested for cognitive function. Those who took in more anthocyanidins – the sugar-free plant flavonoids that give intensely colored fruits and vegetables their coloring – and also total flavonoids had reduced cognitive degeneration.
That means their brains were younger. This is the first time a published study put together the data on how anthocyanidins promote anti-aging.
In other studies on anthocyanidins, they’ve been found to have protective effects on other parts of your central nervous system, not just your brain. For example, they appear to prevent inflammatory processes that lead to nerve injury.2
Preventing inflammation and how it can help in anti-aging was a big topic of conversation at this week’s conference. The other doctors and I talked about the huge problem with inflammation we see in people who visit our practices. It’s the same all over the world.
Anthocyanidins are unique because they stay intact in your body so they can really deliver their benefits, like working against inflammation and brain aging. Other plant nutrients break down faster and can lose their punch.
Plants with the most color usually have the most anthocyanidins. These include blueberries, red grapes, red cabbage, and cranberries.
In Malaysia they have a native berry full of anthocyanidins called the mulberry.
Mulberry trees became famous because they have huge, green leaves that silkworms love to get fat on. They became so important during the time of silk trading from Asia that the trees were imported all over the world to help feed silkworms.
The berries look sort of like a blackberry, but longer, and they can be an intense red, dark purple or even pink because of their high anthocyanidin content.
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I was happy to see some familiar faces in Malaysia, including Dr. Robert Goldman, cofounder of the American Academy of Anti-Aging (A4M). Mulberries are also the most bioavailable source of another brain-boosting flavonoid called morin. Morin can kill cancer cells and protect the kidney from the effects of alcohol, but it can also shield your brain’s neurons and glial cells, which are essential to continued healthy brain function. In a study from the journal Glia, researchers found that free-radical damage from inflammation was much higher in glial cells not protected with morin.3
Chinese medicine uses the mulberry to sharpen vision, quench thirst, and cure dizziness and insomnia.
Now you can consider it an anti-aging fruit, too.
You may be lucky to have a local farmer who grows and sells fresh mulberries. A silkwood farm would have them. But the berries are very tender and spoil more quickly that some other fruits. That’s why you normally see mulberries sold frozen or dried. You can usually get them at local health-food stores.
You can also get dried mulberry powder. Just mix a tablespoon or two with juice or yogurt, or add to your favorite smoothie.
You can also buy extracts in capsule form, which will usually have part berry and part leaf extract. The most powerful ones contain 25% or more anthocyanidins. They are available online and in many Asian specialty stores.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1. Devore E, Kang J, Breteler M, Grodstein F. “Dietary intakes of berries and flavonoids in relation to cognitive decline.” Ann Neurol. 2012 Apr 26.
2. Jäger A, Saaby L. “Flavonoids and the CNS.” Molecules. 2011 Feb 10;16(2):1471-85.
3. Ibarretxe, G., Sánchez-Gómez, M.V., Campos-Esparza, M.R., et al, “Differential oxidative stress in oligodendrocytes and neurons after excitotoxic insults and protection by natural polyphenols,” Glia Jan. 15, 2006;53(2):201-11.