Blueberries for when you’re feeling blue

Feeling blue?  Then eat some blueberries; the fruit is an effective way to lift your mood.

But the fruit isn’t having a positive effect on the brain; instead, it’s improving gut bacteria that influences our mood and the neurotransmitters in our gut.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School have noted that people who have some blueberries every day seem to be in a better mood and have fewer depressive interludes than those who don’t eat the fruit.

They’ve tested the idea on a group of 18 people who were aged 65 and over who were experiencing mild depression.  For three months, they either consumed 48 grams of blueberry powder—the equivalent of around two cups of blueberries—every day, or they were given a placebo powder. Their gut microbiome markers were regularly checked.

Although those eating blueberries experienced fewer depressive symptoms, the researchers said there wasn’t a major difference between the fruit and placebo groups, although the gut microbiome in the fruit eaters was starting to show some interesting improvements, and specifically in the growth of enzymes that enhanced brain signalling.

Perhaps if the group had been eating blueberries for more than three months, they would have started to have seen bigger improvements in their mood.

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