Study suggests that cranberries stimulate children's memory and concentration

Study suggests that blueberries stimulate children's memory and concentration

13/10/2015

A British study revealed that when children consume blueberries, both their memory and concentration improve.

The research, led by Professor Claire Williams, from the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading (England), is the first to examine in detail the effects of blueberries on a cognitive level.

For three weeks, a total of 21 children between 7 and 10 years consumed blueberries, fruit known to be a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins.

Each child drank three drinks with various concentrations of the fruit: high dose (30 grams or a cup and a half); a low dose (15 grams or ¾ cup); and a dose of placebo (0 grams of blueberries).

After consuming each drink, the children underwent a series of cognitive tests to assess memory and concentration at different time intervals throughout the day (one and a half hours, 3 and 6 hours after the dose).

According to the information, during the day of the test and before it, the children were forced to eliminate flavonoids from their diets

Once the results are obtained, the Williams study suggests a strong correlation between blueberry intake and yield, where a high dose of the fruit leads to better performance. In this way, when the children consumed the drinks with a high concentration of blueberries, they performed better on tests that involved remembering words and tasks, and being able to ignore distractions.

"We have known for a long time that anthocyanins promote healthy brain function in adults, but now we can see the beneficial effects of anthocyanins in a variety of memory tasks and attention in children"said the researcher.

"This suggests that foods rich in anthocyanins could potentially strengthen learning performance in school-age children", Agregó.

As a result of these findings, Williams and his team of researchers are conducting further studies to determine whether the consumption of blueberries can aid in the development of reading and benefit children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) through a diet rich in anthocyanins.

The study was published in the European Journal of Nutrition under the title: "Cognitive Effects Following Acute Wild Blueberry Supplementation on 7-10 Year Old Children".

Source: Fruit Portal