Essential
- Regularly consume foods rich in flavonoids, such as apples, blueberries or tea, reduces the risks of fragility, physical decline and age -related mental disorders.
- Profits are observed even with recent food changes, and are particularly marked in women.
- Incorporating more fruits, vegetables and drinks rich in flavonoids into your plate could thus promote healthy aging.
What if the secret of healthy aging was on our plate? A vast international study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutritionreveals that consuming foods rich in flavonoids regularly, such as apples, blueberries or tea, could significantly reduce the risk of physical and mental decline linked to age.
Flavonoids: less fragility, more vitality
Over a period of up to 24, researchers followed more than 86,000 Americans aged at least 60 years. Result: those who consumed the most foods rich in flavonoids had 15 % risks less than becoming fragile, 12 % less to suffer from physical disorders and 12 % less mental decline, compared to those who consumed the least. “What we eat significantly influences the way we get older”summarize the authors in a press release.
Flavonoids, these natural compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, are present in many foods: tea, red wine, apples, blueberries, strawberries, citrus … The score defined by researchers, the “flavodiet score”made it possible to measure the overall consumption of these foods and its link with three markers of aging: fragility, physical function and mental health.
Women, big winners?
In detail, women with the highest scores had 15 % risk in less to become fragile. Apples were linked to a 17 %reduction in the risk of fragility, 11 %blueberries, and red wine up to 19 %. “Those who have decreased their consumption of blueberries presented a risk of higher fragility by 31 %”specify researchers.
For their part, men have shown less strong associations, which the authors may attribute to a shorter follow-up period (12 years against 24 for women), or a difference in smoking habits, flavonoids being more effective in smokers according to previous studies.
Three additional portions per day
The good news is that even recent changes in food seem to bear fruit. Three additional portions per day of foods rich in flavonoids are enough to reduce the risks of 6 to 11 %, regardless of the aging criterion examined. No need for expensive food supplements or complex culinary routines: a simple cup of tea, an apple, a few berries in a yogurt …
