Do Berries Prevent Parkinson’s?

Researchers at Harvard have been following 80,000 female nurses and almost 50,000 male health professionals for decades. Every few years the participants fill out detailed questionnaires about their diets and their health status. In the most recent analysis, investigators report that men who ate the most anthocyanins were 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Anthocyanins are purple-red pigments that have antioxidant activity and are found in blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries and many other red fruits. One serving a week dropped the risk of Parkinson’s by 25%. Women didn’t appear to benefit the same way the men did. Nonetheless, experiments have shown that berries are good for the brain and there’s no downside to eating them.

[Neurology, April, 2012]