Found It: A Fruit That Supports Brain Health & Emotional Well-Being

According to a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, eating a serving of strawberries a day may improve cognitive control and emotional coping capabilities1.

The participants were 30 men and women between the ages of 50 and 65 with a BMI of 25 or greater who complained of mild cognitive decline. For the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, participants consumed either a strawberry powder (made from freeze-dried strawberries) or a placebo powder that, like strawberries, contained fiber and carbs (but didn't have the fruit's polyphenols) daily for one week. The strawberry powder group consumed the equivalent of one cup of whole fresh strawberries per day—a standard serving.

Before and after this intervention, researchers tested participants' executive abilities, learning, and memory—which all tend to decline with dementia and other forms of neurodegeneration. They also gathered information about the participants' mood, depressive symptoms, and feelings of hopelessness.

Indeed, the results show that those who ate the strawberry powder scored better on learning and memory tests at the end of the study than the control group. They also reported a lower level of depressive symptoms than they did at the study's start. Researchers suspect this may have been a ripple effect from the cognitive benefits.

“Such coping enhancement also can be understood as implying improved executive ability; that is, better ability to manage everyday activities and social relationships and improved response control and greater flexibility,” they note. 

The controlled element of this study helps ensure these benefits were from the strawberries themselves—not their fiber or carbs.

While the results are impressive for the small but mighty berry, we still have more to learn about their specific brain-beneficial components.

The authors suspect the anti-inflammatory action of the flavonoids found in the strawberry powder (and whole strawberries) was the primary factor at play, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding. Nevertheless, this new research joins previous studies that have uncovered impressive health benefits of strawberries. Consuming the fruit has been shown to have a positive effect on systolic blood pressure too, for example.

To say the least, it’s worth viewing strawberries as more than just a sweet treat—they can be considered brain food.