Eating blueberries daily may influence gut bacteria and potentially affect mood in older adults, according to a small pilot study, infohub.kz reports.
The findings by lead author Courtney L. Millar of the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife and her colleagues were published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging. The trial involved 18 sedentary volunteers over 65 with mild depressive symptoms.
For three months, one group consumed 48 grams of blueberry powder daily — the equivalent of two cups of fresh berries — while the other received a placebo. The researchers used metagenomic sequencing and mass spectrometry to assess the gut microbiome.
They recorded statistically significant changes in the abundance of genes for certain enzymes, including EC 3.6.3.31 Polyamine Transporting ATPase, which is involved in producing the neurotransmitter GABA.
Although depressive symptoms declined steadily in the blueberry group, the difference compared with the placebo group was not statistically significant. As ScienceDaily notes, the improvement in depressive symptoms did not reach statistical significance.
Mohit P. Chopra, Xochitl Morgan, Emily A. Green, Alex Wolf, Kerry A. Pierce, Lidan Gao, Christopher N. Blesso, Alyssa B. Dufour, Douglas P. Kiel and Lewis A. Lipsitz also contributed to the study.
The authors stress that larger clinical trials are needed to verify the findings.