Higher Dietary Intake of Flavonoids Associated with Improved Cognitive Health in Elderly Subjects

by | Jan 25, 2023 | 2020, Aging, Brain Health, Cognitive Health, Flavonoids

Written by Taylor Woosley, Staff Writer. Results of the study using data from the MEAL study show that a significant difference was found in the dietary intake of anthocyanins between individuals with normal and impaired cognitive function (57.03 ± 54.79 mg/d vs. 41.14 ± 44.18 mg/d, respectively). 

fruits and vegetables - berriesBy 2030, an estimated one in five Americans will be 65 years of age or older and, therefore, the prevention and treatment of chronic age-related diseases are of growing public health significance1. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is becoming the fifth leading cause of death in people older than 65 years, and there will be 115 million people globally who will suffer from AD by 20502. Aging is well known to be associated with significant changes in brain morphology, plasticity, and function3. Besides advanced age, multiple factors such as genetics, socioeconomic, and environmental factors, including nutrition and physical activity, are risk factors for cognitive impairment4.

Research has demonstrated that flavonoid consumption, a large group of polyphenolic compounds with numerous effects on behavior and cognition, may be beneficial to slow the progression of cognitive decline5. Flavonoids are known for their antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities, but recent evidence has shown that flavonoids have a wide range of activities that could make them particularly effective for blocking the age-associated toxicity pathways associated with neurodegenerative diseases6. Flavonoid-rich food interventions (such as berries, cocoa, or tea) can attenuate biomarkers of inflammation including neuroinflammation, effectively mitigate cognitive dysfunction and decline, and sharpen cognitive function7.

Godos et al. conducted a study to explore the association between dietary flavonoids intake, as well as individual compounds and cognitive health in an Italian cohort. Data used was from the MEAL study, an observational study investigating the associations between nutritional and lifestyle habits characterizing the Mediterranean area and non-communicable diseases. Baseline data featured a final sample of 2044 men and women aged 18 or older. The analysis for the present study was restricted to subjects of age 50 years or older (n=883).

Demographic data such as gender, age at recruitment, education level, and occupation was provided by participants. Physical activity was evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ), with scores being categorized into low, moderate, or high activity levels. Further information regarding smoking status and alcohol consumption was obtained and categorized. Dietary assessment was performed using two food frequency questionnaires (FFQ), which contained information related to food intake, energy content, and macro- and micro-nutrient intake. Dietary flavonoid intake was assessed using the Phenol-Explorer database to estimate the content of flavonoid based on responses to the FFQs. Cognitive health was evaluated using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), a 10-item tool to assess cognitive abilities.

The Chi-square test was utilized to test for differences in categorical variables. ANOVA was used for continuous variables distributed normally and the Kruskall-Wallis test was utilized for variables distributed not normally. Energy-adjusted multivariate logistic regression models were used to test the association between dietary flavonoid intake and cognitive status. Furthermore, a multivariate model was also performed to test whether the observed associations were independent from background characteristic variables (sex, age, BMI, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption). Significant findings of the study are as follows:

  • Among individual subclasses of flavonoids, individuals in the highest quartile of catechin and anthocyanins intake were less likely to have impaired cognitive status (OR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.14, 1.00).
  • When considering individual polyphenols, only quercetin was significantly associated with cognitive health, as participants in the highest quartile of intake were less likely to have impaired cognitive status (OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.91).
  • A stratified analysis by sex showed an association between impaired cognitive health and total flavonoids in men and women (for the third vs. the first quartile of intake, OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.39 and OR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.52).

Results of the study show that higher intake of flavonoids was associated with better cognitive health among adults. These findings were observed in both men and women, with small differences between sexes. Regarding elderly subjects, the individual compounds hesperetin and naringenin were also associated with improved cognitive health. Study limitations include the inability to establish a casual relationship due to the cross-sectional nature of the study and the potential for recall bias for total food consumption and dietary polyphenol intake.

Source: Godos, Justyna, Filippo Caraci, Sabrina Castellano, Walter Currenti, Fabio Galvano, Raffaele Ferri, and Giuseppe Grosso. “Association between dietary flavonoids intake and cognitive function in an Italian cohort.” Biomolecules 10, no. 9 (2020): 1300.

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Posted January 24, 2023.

Taylor Woosley studied biology at Purdue University before becoming a 2016 graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a major in Writing. She currently resides in Glen Ellyn, IL.

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