There are the die-hards and those who find it too bitter. But did you know that chicory could help keep a brain in good shape and fight cognitive decline? Researchers have shown in mice that chicoric acid, contained in chicory but also in other plants such as lettuce or certain flowers, could help maintain learning and memory capacities. In their study published in FASEB Journal, scientists at Northwest A&F University in China analyzed the behavior of three groups of mice subjected to two maze tests.
Slow down aging
The first group received lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which produce substances that accelerate aging, amyloid proteins. In Alzheimer’s disease, these proteins come together in plaques, which contributes to the loss of brain capacity. As the researchers could predict, this group of rodents took longer to find the way out of the maze than the control group, which received nothing. The experiment was then repeated on a group of guinea pigs which received not only LPS, but also chicoric acid. This contribution allows mice to find their way out of the labyrinth much faster than those which have not received the chicory derivative. Concretely, with chicoric acid, LPS can no longer produce as many amyloid proteins. This therefore slows down cognitive decline. These results must now be confirmed in humans.
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