Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other berry fruits have been shown to help the brain stay healthy and may even help prevent age-related memory loss.

A recent article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry pointed out the many benefits that berries have on brain health:

• Berry fruits have high levels of antioxidants that protect brain cells from damage by harmful free radicals

• They improve the way neurons communicate within the brain

• Berries prevent inflammation in the brain that contribute to neuronal damage and improve both motor control and cognition

• Blueberries and grapes have been shown to help improve mild mental impairment in older adults

Recent research increasingly shows that eating berry fruits can benefit the aging brain, but further research is needed to show whether these benefits are a result of individual compounds shared between berry fruits or whether the unique combinations of chemicals in each berry fruit simply have similar effects.

Brain shrinkage is typical of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous studies hinted at the role that nutrition may play in staving off the disease, but this study, the first of its kind, measured 30 different blood nutrient levels, reflecting a much wider range of nutrients, and adds specificity to the findings.

“This approach clearly shows the biological and neurological activity that’s associated with actual nutrient levels, both good and bad,” said Maret Traber, a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute and co-author on the study.

“The vitamins and nutrients you get from eating a wide range of fruits, vegetables and fish can be measured in blood biomarkers,” Traber said. “I’m a firm believer these nutrients have strong potential to protect your brain and make it work better.”

The study group included elderly people with an average age of 87 with no special risk factors for memory or mental acuity.

The most favorable cognitive outcomes and brain size measurements were associated with two dietary patterns – high levels of marine fatty acids, and high levels of vitamins B, C, D and E. Trans-fatty foods were associated with the worst cognitive performance.

When ursolic acid was added to the food of normal mice for a period of weeks, their muscles grew. The animals also became leaner and had lower blood levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

“Muscle wasting is a frequent companion of illness and aging,” said Christopher Adams of The University of Iowa, Iowa City. “It prolongs hospitalization, delays recoveries and in some cases prevents people from going back home. It isn’t well understood and there is no medicine for it.”

It has not been determined whether the findings in mice will happen the same effect in human patients, Adams says, but his goal now is to “figure out if this can help people.” If so, the next step is determining how much needs to be consumed to have the same health benefits.

The startling anti-aging effects on the mice were noted in every part of the body, including the hair, skin, ovaries, testicles, spleen, kidneys, and liver. The control group had damaged musculature but it appeared normal in the exercising mice.

Both groups of mice were genetically engineered to age faster due to a defect in a gene; however, despite this genetic defect, the mitochondria – the part of the living cell which has its own DNA and is thought to accumulate mutations that lead to aging – appeared young and healthy in the exercise group.

“Many people falsely believe that the benefits of exercise will be found in a pill,” said Dr. Tarnopolsky, principal investigator of the study and a professor of pediatrics and medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. “We have clearly shown that there is no substitute for the “real thing” of exercise when it comes to protection from aging.”

Adeel Safdar, lead author and a senior PhD student working with Tarnopolsky said: “I believe that we have very compelling evidence that clearly show that endurance exercise is a lifestyle approach that improves whole body mitochondrial function which is critical for reducing morbidity and mortality. Exercise truly is the fountain of youth.”

“We all age. It is how we age, however, that determines the quality of our lives,” said Anthony Ong of Cornell University, author of a recent article that describes his review of data suggesting positive emotions may be a powerful preventive to stress, pain, and chronic illness later in life.

Ong says that people with a positive attitude tend to make healthier choices, such as sticking with an exercise regimen, getting adequate sleep, and avoiding unhealthy habits, such as smoking.

Stress, a common risk factor for many chronic diseases that develop as we age, can be avoided by having an optimistic attitude — studies have found that people with stronger positive emotions have lower levels of chemicals associated with inflammation related to stress. Also, by adopting a positive attitude people may even be able to undo some of the physical damage caused by stress.

Both adiponectin and resveratrol display anti-obesity, anti-insulin resistance and anti-aging properties.

Other recent positive studies of resveratrol show that it has anti-inflammatory properties and suppresses free radicals, may prevent some blinding diseases, and may neutralize the toxic effects of proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Resveratrol is a compound produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi, and is found in the skin of red grapes and red wine. It also is produced by chemical synthesis derived primarily from Japanese knotweed and is sold as a nutritional supplement.

“What was really exciting about this study was that we found when green tea is digested by enzymes in the gut, the resulting chemicals are actually more effective against key triggers of Alzheimer’s development than the undigested form of the tea,” explains Dr. Okello, based in the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University.

They also found the digested polyphenols to be effective in stunting the development of tumor cells.

Dr. Okello explained how crucial it is to understand if compounds even work within the body once digested. “Just because the food we put into our mouths is generally accepted to contain health-boosting properties, we can’t assume these compounds will ever be absorbed by the body.”

Telomeres, the caps of DNA which protect the ends of chromosomes, shorten every time cells divide. When telomeres drop below a critical length, the cell can no longer divide properly and eventually dies. The enzyme telomerase slows this degradation by adding fresh DNA to the ends of telomeres.

When the enzyme was turned off in the mice, they developed experienced shorter telomeres, and subsequently experienced degeneration of organ tissues and decreased brain size. Once the enzyme was switched back on, the mice began to live longer with rejuvenation of organs and development of new brain cells.

Some of the psychological benefits that come from meditation include increased feelings of well-being and the heightened ability to deal with stress. Now those psychological changes are being linked to improved cellular health in the form of greater telomerase activity. Telomerase is an enzyme important for the long-term health of cells in the body by rebuilding and lengthening telomeres, sequences of DNA at the end of chromosomes that tend to get shorter every time a cell divides. When telomeres drop below a critical length, the cell can no longer divide properly and eventually dies.

A group of researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, San Francisco, are conducting a long-term study on groups of meditators called The Shamatha Project, led by Clifford Saron, associate research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. It is one of the most comprehensive longitudinal study of intensive meditation yet undertaken.

The intensive meditation retreat took place at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colo., which included 30 participants each in the retreat and control groups. Participants received ongoing instruction in meditation techniques from Buddhist scholar, author and teacher B. Alan Wallace of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies.

“The take-home message from this work is not that meditation directly increases telomerase activity and therefore a person’s health and longevity,” Saron said. “Rather, meditation may improve a person’s psychological well-being and in turn these changes are related to telomerase activity in immune cells, which has the potential to promote longevity in those cells. Activities that increase a person’s sense of well-being may have a profound effect on the most fundamental aspects of their physiology.”