supercharging your memory

Scientists have found that one fruit could hold the key to supercharging your memory.One little fruit could stop or even reverse years of cognitive decline.
This  fruit contains special substances that help your brain cells send and receive information faster. Much faster. Plus, according to the new research, it doesn't take long for your brain to start working lightening fast...just 12 weeks.
Berry blocks natural brain aging
Over the years, lots of studies have shown that this fruit reduces your risk of vision loss, weight gain, heart disease, and certain types of cancer. That's nothing new. But very recently, scientists have also found that it also protects your brain from aging.
Blueberries, which contain two special kinds of antioxidants called anthocyanins and flavanols. They are special because they can cross the blood-brain barrier. Very few nutrients on Earth can do this. Once there, they scrub your brain cells and get rid of harmful free radicals. And that's important...because free radicals in the brain can lead to oxidation, memory loss, and even Alzheimer's disease.
Blueberries also help existing nerve cells in the brain to communicate with each other better. They even appear to encourage the growth of new nerve cells in the brain.
If Big Pharma came up with a drug that could grow new nerve cells in the brain. Not that it could (or would) ever happen, but can you imagine the headlines: "Grow New Brain Cells with Our Miracle Drug!!!!!" Sure, there would be the occasional side-effects, like your head exploding. But that's a small risk.
Thankfully, you don't have to wait for Big Pharma's next wonder drug. Blueberries can improve your brain function right now.
Boost your learning capacity
For the latest study, researchers fed aging rats a blueberry-enriched diet for one or two months. They also sent the rats through a series of mazes to test their cognitive ability. The faster the rat got through the maze, the better its score.
The first time the aging rats ran through the maze, they scored badly. But after eating a diet filled with blueberries they all performed better, even the rats who were fed blueberries for just one month. In fact, in just one month's time, they scored just as well as the young rats in the study. On the other hand, the aging rats fed a normal diet performed worse on later tests.
In addition, the aging rats fed blueberries for at least two months kept their young brains.
Well, these rats continued to perform like young rats even months after they stopped eating the blueberries. So it appears that eating blueberries has a lasting affect on the brain.
According to Dr. David Malin, PhD, the team's lead researcher, "The present results suggest that even a relatively brief blueberry diet might produce measurable benefits. Second, the benefits of several months of the diet might be maintained for a considerable period after the diet is interrupted. Third, blueberry supplementation might possibly reverse some degree of memory impairment that has already developed. This raises the possibility that this sort of nutritional intervention might still be beneficial even after certain memory deficiencies have become evident."
In other words, eating blueberries can really help your memory... even if you already show signs of mental decline. Plus, once you start eating blueberries, the results seem to be long-lasting.

Now, these results came from testing rats. And the research has to come a long way before we can say with certainty that we'll get the same results on humans. But the emerging data looks really positive. In fact, last year researchers from the University of Cincinnati found that men and women who drank about 500 mL of blueberry juice improved their learning and word list recall in just 12 weeks! They also significantly improved their depressive symptoms.
These delicious brain-boosters are one of the 'dirtiest' fruits on Earth. In fact, each year the Environmental Working Group ranks fruits and vegetables according to their pesticide residue. And last year blueberries ranked fifth 'dirtiest.' This means that most blueberries on the shelves at your local grocery store are covered in pesticides.

Is there such a thing as a 'clean' blueberry?
The truth is, washing fruits and vegetables with soap and water (or even the specialty washes) does very little to remove pesticides. The only safe way around the problem is to avoid commercially grown produce. Choose organic instead. Another great option is to look for a supplement that contains blueberry extract.

[Heather5]

Loved the article...until the very end about the pesticides. That's too bad. Very interesting, though, about the memory boost. Thanks for sharing!