Eating large quantities of cranberries may help improve cognitive function and brain health, according to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.
Brain health and the risk for cognitive decline — potentially ultimately leading to dementia — are major concerns for people with diabetes. People with diabetes are known to be at higher risk for dementia, especially if they have poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Research also suggests that even people with prediabetes are at greater risk for cognitive decline. Cognitive decline in people with diabetes is also linked to a greater risk for cardiovascular events like a heart attack or stroke, as well as a higher risk for peripheral neuropathy.
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Certain lifestyle measures may help reduce the risk for cognitive decline, such as getting enough sleep and getting enough physical activity. And nutrition may play an important role in brain health, with studies showing that a higher intake of antioxidants and fiber may reduce your dementia risk, while consuming inflammatory foods may raise your dementia risk.
For the latest study, researchers looked at the effects of eating cranberries daily on brain health and cognitive function in a group of 60 healthy adults between the ages of 50 and 80. Each participant was randomly assigned to either a cranberry group (29 participants) or to a control group (31 participants). Members of the cranberry group consumed a pre-measured dose of 4.5 grams of freeze-dried cranberry powder daily for 12 weeks, equivalent to about one cup of fresh cranberries. Members of the control group consumed the same amount of a powder that was designed to look and taste like real cranberry powder, but which actually contained maltodextrin, citric acid, and color and flavoring.
All participants remained in the study for the entire 12 weeks and follow-up visit, with no reports of serious adverse events. Participants took a cognitive assessment both at the beginning and at the end of the 12 weeks, which consisted of several standardized assessments looking at different areas of cognitive performance — including memory, attention and orientation, fluency, language, and visual and spatial reasoning. At the beginning of the study, there were no differences in cognitive performance between the cranberry and control groups except in the area of visual and spatial reasoning, in which the cranberry group performed slightly better.
Cranberry powder linked to improvements in memory
But at the end of the 12 weeks, members of the cranberry group showed significant improvement in memory scores, specifically for delayed-recall tasks (in which a person is asked to remember something they were told earlier). What’s more, results from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans showed an increase in blood flow of certain areas of the brain in the cranberry group, but not in the control group. Members of the cranberry group had higher levels of beneficial nutrients called polyphenols in their blood at the end of the study — not at all surprising, given that cranberries are high in polyphenols. The researchers noted that these nutrients may be responsible for the greater blood flow in the brain and improved memory scores seen in the cranberry group.
The researchers concluded that this small study provides “a basis for future investigations to determine efficacy in the context of neurological disease” of taking freeze-dried cranberry powder as a dietary supplement.
Want to learn more about maintaining cognitive health with diabetes? Read “Nine Tips to Keep Your Memory With Diabetes,” “Keeping Your Brain Strong With Diabetes” and “Memory Fitness: How to Get It, How to Keep It.”