Antioxidant Flavonols – From Fruit, Tea and Wine – Linked to Slower Memory Decline

A brand new research discovered that individuals who eat or drink extra meals with antioxidant flavonols might have a slower fee of reminiscence decline as they age.

Based on new analysis, individuals who eat or drink extra meals with antioxidant flavonols, that are present in tea and wine in addition to a number of fruit and veggies, might have a slower fee of reminiscence decline. The research was printed within the November 22, 2022, on-line subject of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“It’s thrilling that our research exhibits making particular weight loss program decisions might result in a slower fee of cognitive decline,” stated research writer Thomas M. Holland, MD, MS of Rush College Medical Middle in Chicago. “One thing so simple as consuming extra fruit and veggies and ingesting extra tea is a straightforward manner for folks to take an energetic function in sustaining their mind well being.”

Flavonols are a sort of flavonoid, a bunch of phytochemicals present in plant pigments recognized for its useful results on well being.

Individuals within the research included 961 folks with out dementia with a mean age of 81. They crammed out a questionnaire annually on how usually they ate sure meals. Additionally they accomplished annual cognitive and reminiscence assessments together with recalling lists of phrases, remembering numbers and placing them within the appropriate order. They had been additionally requested about different elements, corresponding to their stage of training, how a lot time they spent doing bodily actions and the way a lot time they spent doing mentally participating actions corresponding to studying and enjoying video games. They had been adopted for a mean of seven years.

Researchers divided the folks into 5 equal teams primarily based on the quantity of flavonols that they had of their weight loss program. Whereas the common quantity of flavonol consumption in US adults is about 16 to twenty milligrams (mg) per day, the research inhabitants had a mean dietary consumption of whole flavonols of roughly 10 mg per day. The bottom group had an consumption of about 5 mg per day and the best group consumed a mean of 15 mg per day; which is equal to about one cup of darkish leafy greens.

To find out charges of cognitive decline, researchers used an general international cognition rating summarizing 19 cognitive assessments. The common rating ranged from 0.5 for folks with no considering issues to 0.2 for folks with delicate cognitive impairment to -0.5 for folks with Alzheimer’s disease.

After adjusting for other factors that could affect the rate of memory decline, such as age, sex and smoking, researchers found that the cognitive score of people who had the highest intake of flavonols declined at a rate of 0.4 units per decade more slowly than people whose had the lowest intake. Holland noted this is probably due to the inherent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of flavonols.

The study also broke the flavonol class down into the four constituents: kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin and isorhamnetin. The top food contributors for each category were: kale, beans, tea, spinach and broccoli for kaempferol; tomatoes, kale, apples and tea for quercetin; tea, wine, kale, oranges and tomatoes for myricetin; and pears, olive oil, wine and tomato sauce for isorhamnetin.

People who had the highest intake of kaempferol had a 0.4 units per decade slower rate of cognitive decline compared to those in the lowest group. Those with the highest intake of quercetin had a 0.2 units per decade slower rate of cognitive decline compared to those in the lowest group. And people with the highest intake of myricetin had a 0.3 units per decade slower rate of cognitive decline compared to those in the lowest group. Dietary isorhamnetin was not tied to global cognition.

Holland noted that the study shows an association between higher amounts of dietary flavonols and slower cognitive decline but does not prove that flavonols directly cause a slower rate of cognitive decline.

Other limitations of the study are that the food frequency questionnaire, although valid, was self-reported, so people may not accurately remember what they eat.

Reference: “Association of Dietary Intake of Flavonols With Changes in Global Cognition and Several Cognitive Abilities” by Thomas Monroe Holland, Puja Agarwal, Yamin Wang, Klodian Dhana, Sue E. Leurgans, Kyla Shea, Sarah L Booth, Kumar Rajan, Julie A. Schneider and Lisa L. Barnes, 22 November 2022, Neurology.
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201541

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, and USDA Agricultural Research Service.