Research in Progress

HD and Lifestyle

A Cup of Blueberries a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Nineteen-month-old rats on a blueberry-rich diet (equivalent to one cup per day for humans) were more skillful at navigating their way through a maze than rats that were not fed blueberries. It seems that blueberries promote neurogenesis, the growth of neurons. To track the production of new neurons, researchers injected dye into the rats, and after only a week they found evidence of neurogenesis in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls memory, learning, and thought. No change occurred in the production of neurons in the control group rats (the ones not fed blueberries). Scientists believe that the beneficial effects of blueberry consumption in rats were perhaps due to the blueberries’ anthocyanin dyes, which are chemicals that can cross the blood-brain barrier and trigger neurogenesis (unlike Congo red dye, another chemical that has been used to treat HD in mice by preventing the buildup of huntingtin protein in the brain).

A University of Maine nutritionist recently found another advantage of eating blueberries. Wild blueberries may relax blood vessels, preventing increased blood pressure that can lead to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and many other complications. In the University of Maine study, researchers fed rats a diet of wild blueberries and then injected the animals with a stress hormone. The rats on the blueberry diet exhibited less arterial force in response to the stress hormone, indicating that their arteries were more relaxed.

This finding may also have an impact on Huntington’s disease. Blueberries work their artery-relaxing magic by making nitric acid readily available in the body. Maintaining an adequate nitric acid concentration helps keep arteries supple in order for sufficient blood flow. Therefore, since HD patients are known to have decreased blood flow to the brain, consuming blueberries on a daily basis may increase blood flow and thus have a beneficial effect.

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Last Modified: 5-10-04

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