Rich in pelargonidin, a plant pigment with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, strawberries could reduce the risk of suffering from dementia, more specifically Alzheimer’s disease.
- Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that affects no less than 900,000 people in France.
- A pro-inflammatory diet (meat, sugar, dairy products) is associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Yet another proof of the super power of our plate on our health: researchers at Rush University in Chicago (USA) have found that eating strawberries is associated with better cognition and a reduced risk of dementia.
A bioactive compound
Their study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, gives hope. Until now, no effective treatment has been discovered to cure the disease and the drugs delivered only allow the degeneration to be slowed down.
It’s a bioactive compound found in strawberries called ‘pelargonidin’ that may help reduce the number of neurofibrillary tau intracellular aggregates in the brain which, in their ultimate form, are named neurofibrillary tangles.
These Tau tangles are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease: a direct link between Tau aggregation and neurodegeneration have been established with the discovery of Tau mutations causing familial dementia.
Important allies
Strawberries are the berries richest in pelargonidin and are therefore great allies against inflammation, whose role in the development of the disease is proven. “We suspect that the anti-inflammatory properties of pelargonidin may decrease overall neuroinflammation“says Dr. Julie Schneider, neuropathologist at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and one of the authors of this study.
Eating habits
To measure the benefits of eating strawberries on the brain, the researchers compared the eating habits and neuropathological assessments of 575 participants who died at an average age of 91.
Participants with the highest pelargonidin intake had fewer signs of Alzheimer’s disease: from the amyloid plaques that deposit between nerve cells and cause malfunctioning connections between neurons , and tau tangles that were less present.
“The study was observational and does not prove a direct causal relationship. More research is needed to understand the role of nutrition in Alzheimer’s disease, but this study gives us hope for how specific food components like berries may help brain health.“, assures Dr. Agarwal, author of the study.
