A DIET lacking a compound found in tea, apples and berries is linked to age-related memory loss, according to a large trial in older adults.
The project explored the impact of flavanols – compounds found in foods such as tea, apples and berries – on cognitive ageing in 3,562 older individuals over three years.
Conducted by staff at Columbia University and co-investigated by the University of Reading’s Gunter Kuhnle, the study showed that individuals with high habitual flavanol consumption have better hippocampal memory function than those with lower consumption.
However, an intervention of 500mg of flavanols daily can reverse negative effects.
Lead investigator Scott Small MD, professor of neurology at Columbia University said: “The identification of nutrients critical for the proper development of an infant’s nervous system was a crowning achievement of 20th century nutrition science.
“As we are living longer, research is starting to reveal that different nutrients are needed to fortify our ageing minds.”
Prof Kuhnle said: “These are exciting results because they suggest that there is an optimum amount of flavanols in the diet.
“We used nutritional biomarkers in urine to measure the baseline diet of around one-third of the participants.
“This method is more accurate than relying on self-reported diet and provided us with a better estimate of flavanol intake and its association with memory function.”
The research was part of the COSMOS study (Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study), a double-blind placebo-controlled randomised study of more than 21,000 participants over three years.
In contrast to other studies, which rely on foods as flavanol sources, the COSMOS study used a standardised flavanol extract, which allowed a better control of the intervention, making it possible to attribute any effects to the compounds and not specific foods.
This study already showed that flavanols reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
