How blueberry vinegar ‘could beat dementia’
SIPPING blueberry vinegar, or using it in salad dressings, could stave off dementia, it is claimed
Scientists have found that the vinegar, which is produced by allowing the fruit to sour, is rich in a brain-boosting chemical.
In a wide-ranging new study, a team of medics found that the memory of mice with amnesia returned after they were fed the fermented product.
After ingesting the vinegar, they had more of a protein that fuels neurons in the brain, as well as increased levels of a compound that is destroyed in dementia patients.
Professor Beong Ou Lim, a biomedical chemist, said the latest study showed that blueberry vinegar could offer some help in the search for new ways to fight cognitive decline.
Prof Lim said a dose of 0.002oz per lb for a week “prevented the amnesia model”.
He said the vinegar restored brain function by preventing neuronal damage in the hippocampus, the area that controls memory.
Function
Prof Lim, of Konkuk University in South Korea, said: “It has been shown a blueberry-rich diet can reduce neuronal loss in the same region.”
It is already known that the vinegar is packed with antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties, and the vitamin C in blueberries helps boost the immune system.
It also contains the compound anthocyanin which is good for memory.
The new study, published in the Journal Of Agricultural And Food Chemistry, said that the vinegar actually restored cognitive function in mice.
Prof Lim and his colleagues added that they were now hopeful the same will apply to humans.
But Dr David Reynolds, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, warned: “The mice in this study were given a drug that causes memory problems and they did not have brain changes that underlie dementia.”