Antioxidant-rich concord grape juice may
help keep aging brains limber, a study with rats suggests.
The study -- partly funded by
grape juice maker Welch Foods Inc. -- included mature
rats nearing the end of their expected life spans. Researchers
put the rodents through a series of tests designed to
measure their short-term memory and neuro-motor skills.
"Concord grape juice appeared to enhance the cognitive
and some motor skills in the test animals. In many of
the tests we saw significant improvements or trends toward
improvement," lead researcher James Joseph, chief
of the neurosciences laboratory at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Nutrition Research Center
on Aging at Tufts University, said in a prepared statement.
"As our population ages, we are continually looking
for ways to maintain our mental and physical skills,"
Joseph noted.
"While these laboratory animal studies are certainly
preliminary and much more work needs to be done, we know
that consuming high levels of natural dietary antioxidants
is a good thing from a number of perspectives. And it
appears that drinking Concord grape juice has the potential
to help retard the mental and physical declines of aging."
The findings appear in the March issue of the journal
Nutrition.
