Bring on the Berry Pie

Did you read about the new research that links eating berries with preventing Parkinson’s disease? Apparently the key is consumption of antioxidant chemicals called flavonoids found in plants and fruits.

The author of the study at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said berries can increase dopamine levels. And dopamine is linked to brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and pain/pleasure sensation.

The research didn’t come from surveying some tiny test group in Siberia. Researchers evaluated more than 80 thousand women and nearly 50 thousand men. Participants filled out surveys about the types of foods they ate and scientists then calculated the flavonoids eaten by each volunteer. The researchers paid particular attention to the association between flavonoid consumption and the risk of Parkinson's. And get this: The researchers followed participants for 20 to 22 years. Not days or months. Two decades.

Here’s where difference by sex gets interesting: Men who ate more foods containing flavonoids—not just berries, but also apples and oranges—were 40 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's disease. But women were helped only by the berries.

So in addition to highlighting the need to eat berries, the study shows that we need both men’s and women’s clinical studies. I think it also might suggest we need different prescription dosaging for men and women. We are not the same.