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Voedsel
rijk aan antioxidanten goed voor de hersenen.*
Bij
eerder onderzoek was reeds geconstateerd dat voeding rijk aan antioxidanten,
zoals blauwe bosbessen, spinazie en spirulina het geestelijke verouderingsproces
bij ratten kon omkeren. Nu blijkt uit een onderzoek dat deze voeding ook de
grootte en de gevolgen van een hersenbloeding aanzienlijk kan verminderen.
Alhoewel
het een onderzoek onder ratten betreft geeft dit toch weer een indicatie dat het
eten van voldoende groente en fruit gezond voor de mens is.
Antioxidant-rich
Diets Reduce Brain Damage From Stroke In Rats
--
Your mother was right. Eat your fruits and veggies -- they're good for you!
And
if that's not reason enough, a new study suggests antioxidant-rich fruits and
vegetables may limit brain damage from stroke and other neurological disorders.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF)College
of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and the National Institute on
Drug Abuse, is posted online and will be published in the May issue of the
journal Experimental Neurology.
USF/VA
neuroscientist Paula Bickford, PhD, and colleagues found that rats fed diets
preventatively enriched with blueberries, spinach or an algae known as spirulina
experienced less brain cell loss and improved recovery of movement following a
stroke.
The
study builds upon previous USF/VA research showing that diets enriched with
blueberries, spinach or spirulina reversed normal age-related declines in memory
and learning in old rats.
"I
was amazed at the extent of neuroprotection these antioxidant-rich diets
provided," said Dr. Bickford, a researcher at the USF Center for Aging and
Brain Repair and James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. "The size of the stroke
was 50 to 75 percent less in rats treated with diets supplemented with
blueberries, spinach or spirulina before the stroke."
Antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory substances in these fruits and vegetables may somehow
reduce the nerve cell injury and death triggered by a stroke, the researchers
suggest. "The clinical implication is that increasing fruit and vegetable
consumption may make a difference in the severity of a stroke," Dr.
Bickford said. "It could be a readily available, inexpensive and relatively
safe way to benefit stroke patients."
The
researchers studied four groups of rats, all fed equal amounts of food for one
month. One group was fed rat chow supplemented with blueberries, a second group
chow with spinach, and the third chow with spirulina. The control (untreated)
group ate chow only.
After
four weeks, an ischemic stroke with reperfusion was induced in the rats. An
ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot cuts off the oxygen supply to the brain
like the kink in a hose cuts off water flow. Then, later, the clot is released
and blood flow returns, which is known as reperfusion.
The
size of the stroke in the rats fed blueberry or spinach supplements was half
that seen in the brains of untreated rats. Rats fed spirulina-enriched diets had
stroke lesions 75 percent smaller than their untreated counterparts. In addition,
rats pretreated with the blueberry, spinach or spirulina diets showed greater
increases in poststroke movement than the control group.
All
the supplemented diets were rich in antioxidants, which scientists say may
counteract the burst of free radicals involved in the cascade of brain cell
death triggered by an ischemic stroke. An excess of free radicals can damage
cellular lipids, proteins and DNA.
The
supplemented diets also contained anti-inflammatory substances that may help
reduce inflammation-induced injury following a stroke, Dr. Bickford said. When a
stroke occurs, immune cells in the brain mount an inflammatory response --
rushing to the site of injury to clear away the dead and dying cells. As a
result, nearby healthy nerve cells may suffer collateral damage much the same
way firefighters breaking into an apartment to put out a fire in one room may
inadvertently cause damage to other rooms.
Teasing
out just which beneficial chemicals contained in the blueberries and leafy
greens might be reproduced therapeutically in pill form is difficult, Dr.
Bickford said. "Whole foods contain multiple nutrients, so there are many
different ways these diets could be protecting the brain. From a scientific
perspective, it's a package deal."
Dr.
Bickford's team is investigating whether rats treated with antioxidant-rich
diets following strokes will experience improved recovery. The researchers also
plan to study whether combinations of the diets might provide even greater
protection against stroke damage than one diet alone. (Juli 2005)