Women and men who eat berries on a regular basis could have a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease, while the risk for men could also be reduced even more by consuming oranges, apples and other foods rich in dietary components known as flavonoids, on a regular basis.
Flavonoids can be found in fruits and plants and are also referred to collectively as citrin and vitamin P. They are also found in chocolate, berries, and citrus fruits like grapefruit.
The researchers gave 80,336 women and 49,281 men questionnaires and made use of a database to determine consumed amount of flavonoids. The link between flavonoid consumption and Parkinson’s disease risk was then analyzed. The consumption of 5 major flavonoid rich foods was also analyzed: namely berries, tea, red wine, apples, and oranges.
Throughout the follow up time period of 20 to 22 years, 805 individuals got Parkinson’s disease. The top 20% men with the highest flavonoid consumption were approximately 40% less likely to get Parkinson’s disease compared to the bottom 20% of male individuals with the least amount of flavonoid consumption.
There wasn’t any association between overall flavonoid consumption and getting Parkinson’s disease in women. But when flavonoid sub-classes were looked at, regular anthocyanin consumption, which are primarily found in berries, were found to be linked to a lower risk of Parkinson’s in both women and men.
The study results indicate that flavonoids, in particular a group known as anthocyanins, could have neuroprotective effects, suggesting that flavonoids could be a healthy and natural approach to reduce the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease.
Fruit For Health Infographic
Image Source: Fruit For Health
References: DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31824f7fc4