One of the perks that comes with summertime is the wonderful array of fruits that become available.
I adore a sweet peach, a juicy nectarine, a ripe cantelope, a sugary slice of watermelon and, of course, blueberries. Mmmmmm.
I always took blueberries for granted-until now. I recently found out that these deep blue-purple delicacies are actually the new "brain food".
Who knew that this innocuous little berry could hold so much power?!
Now that I am armed with the information, I have been buying them up as fast as I can eat them! Then I sit and wait for my brain to begin to function at a much higher level.
In all honesty, I haven't really noticed any differences...but, I'm not taking any chances....so, I keep on eating my blueberries.
Well, today I found out about one of the studies that was done to bring researchers to this conclusion...and, it has me doubting these "magical powers" that the blueberry supposedly contains.
It seems as if British researchers fed "a group of senior citizen rats (huh?) powdered blueberries and tested them on how well they ran a maze. Before eating the berries, the rats were only 60 percent successful. And after? Eighty-three percent."
OK. First of all....what are "senior citizen" rats (the words used in the study!)? Are these rats wearing reading glasses and using walkers to get through the maze? More importantly, are they members of AARP for rats?
Whatever.
The study goes on to say that "...the effect may be linked to the anthocyanins and flavonols blueberries contain: It's believed that both enhance brain cell communication and growth."
OK. Let's be honest here. Those "senior citizen" rats weren't doing any better in the maze because they ate blueberries.
Truth be told, after being fed the delicious sugar powdered berries, they went through the maze quicker just to look for more of the tasty treats.
Brain food?
Nah.
Just smart rats.
3 comments:
I love blueberries too. Thanks for your note. We have had hardly a drop of rain...a little wind.
I hope your mother has fared o.k. through the storm. It certainly hasn't been the big, bad storm everyone feared...but that's good. And it is foolish not to be prepared.
Oh, rats, thought it may help:)
Just kidding, I've read of this for a long time and keep the freezer stocked.
Well - another really good thing about blueberries is the lutein - which makes them really good for your eyes!!!!! Try to find organic blueberries if you can - because the skin is so THIN the fruit sucks up quite a bit of chemicals put on them.
They're relatively easy to grow too.
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