Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston found brain ageing could be delayed by up to two and a half years in elderly women by regularly eating high amounts of the flavonoid-rich berries.
The findings, published in the Annals of Neurology, were based on a survey of over 16,000 women, but may also apply to men, the researchers said.
"We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries may slow progression of cognitive decline in elderly women," Elizabeth Devore, who led the study, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
"Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults."
In the study, the researchers looked at 16,000 women who filled out regular questionnaires on their health habits from 1976 through 2001. In every two years from 1995 to 2001, the researchers measured mental function in subjects over age 70.
The findings showed that consumption of blueberries and strawberries slowed cognitive decline in older women. And those who had higher berry intake delayed cognitive ageing by up to 2.5 years compared to those who consumed fewer of the flavonoid-rich fruits.
There is a possibility that women who eat more berries also have other healthy habits like exercising more that may play a part in the overall findings, the authors said.
However, they found a greater intake of anthocyanidins and total flavonoids was also associated with less cognitive deterioration.
Experts believe that stress and inflammation contribute to cognitive impairment and that increasing consumption of flavonoids could mitigate the harmful effects.
